Watering The Seed
by symbiotic
Summary: One of them took the stage to be like her idol. One stood upon a stage she had grown weary of. Can both of them see eye to eye enough to make the other grow? AU. Some minor drug references.
1. A Voice From Afar

**AN: This was an idea I came up with on a pure whim while listening to one of my favorite bands. Plus I loved the interplay of an upper class character like Diana spending time and intermingling with lower class folk like Akko and company.**

 **Being that this story centers around a band, I'll be posting notes in the beginning of chapters stating what songs are being used at the beginning. Most songs used will be by a band called A Wilhelm Scream, but a few others by other bands will appear as well.**

 **The only song that appears in this chapter is _Someone Like You_ by Adele. **

**Please feel free to critique and give feedback. I'd truly appreciate it.**

 **Kind Regards,  
Symbiotic**

* * *

 **New Bedford, Massachussetts**

* * *

The chords on the acoustic guitar did not come naturally at first. They had a certain jumbled manner to how all of them came from the frets to her picking hand to the body of the acoustic guitar where the chords would ring out. Eventually the shapes and chords began to form a coherent structure, coalescing into a riff that became part of the greater structure of a song. As the riffs and sections of the song began to come into being, Atsuko "Akko" Kagari took careful measure to pause and write down the chords she was playing and the length of each series of notes through the bars on her staff sheet paper, cataloguing her ideas for future use as she would switch between strumming chords and writing down riffs. The switching was both frustrating and cathartic for the brown haired Japanese girl. She enjoyed the process of writing new songs, but they didn't always come easy. Nothing in life seemed to ever come easy for her, but that was something she took in stride. It was part of the fun.

As she sat on her bed with the acoustic guitar in her lap the laptop in front of her began to produce a methodical tone through its speakers. Turning her attention toward the computer, she smiled as she saw the icon and signal for a Skype call appear on the screen. Moving her fingers across the laptop's trackpad, she clicked the answer button and watched as the webcam screen loaded up and projected the image of two people she had not seen in a few weeks.

"Hey Mom and Dad!" she said excitedly in her native Japanese. The image of her parents came into better focus and Akko smiled. She held her acoustic guitar in her lap and moved her bangs out of her face. "How are you doing?"

"Akko!" her father replied happily. "My goodness it feels like ages since we last saw you."

"Oh come on, Dad, it's only been a month since our last video call," Akko said sarcastically but playfully. "It's not like you haven't seen me in years."

"Well we haven't seen you in years!" he replied boisterously. Akko smirked at this fact. She hadn't been home to Japan in several years, and the fact that she hadn't often made her parents anxious. "When are you coming home to visit, Darling? It's been far too long."

Akko chuckled at her parents and the way they talked about her. They sure knew how to make their only daughter feel loved. "Cover the flight and I'll come visit you guys in a heartbeat," she said in jest. "Heck even if you meet me halfway I'll figure out how to cover the rest. You know I wouldn't mind coming home for a bit."

"We know, honey," her mother said with a smile. "How have things been with you lately?"

"Things have been great," Akko said with a smile of her own. She shuffled herself around the bed again to keep herself straight up. "It's going really well over here. The other day at work I got to go for a ride in some old Mercedes worth a million bucks! It was so cool. Plus my online classes have been going great too."

"How many more semesters do you have left my darling?" her father asked. "It feels like you have been in school for quite awhile now."

Akko felt heat rise up to her face and took her fretting hand off of her guitar to scratch the back of her head sheepishly. School was always a touchy subject between her and her parents and she wished she hadn't brought it up. Now there wasn't any chance to back out of discussing it. "I think only two more," she said nervously. "Maybe three...or four…" she went on. The look on her parents' faces changed to frowns and she sighed in defeat. "I'm working on it, I promise."

"Kagari Atsuko," her father said in a disappointed tone. His daughter cringed and shifted her weight in her bed and exhaled in sadness, knowing her answer was going to be disappointing to her parents. "We've talked quite a bit now about how you need to be committed to your studies. You need to do something to guarantee yourself a stable future."

This was something Akko's parents had argued continuously with her. Ever since she had moved out of her parents house and had traveled to a new country, Akko's parents wanted to make sure she always had some degree of stability. They thought the best way for their daughter to achieve that stability was by going to college and getting a degree. And while Akko felt their intentions were in the right place, she disagreed with them about how that stability could be achieved only through a degree. Akko of course was quick to point this out.

"But I have stability right now," she replied rolling her eyes. She hated talking about these things with her parents. No amount of reasoning seemed to have an effect on them. But that didn't stop her from trying. "I have a nice place with two great roommates, a good job, and a killer band that gets to travel all over the world playing awesome shows! What more could a girl ask for?"

"We just worry that you won't enjoy that stability for long, Akko," her mother cautioned. "Your father and I are very proud of how far you have gotten with your music, but that won't last forever."

"Once we find a singer we'll be right back on track!" Akko proclaimed with a high degree of assuredness. "Lotte, Sucy, Amanda, and I have been writing a lot of new songs lately and the label has been really patient with us. I swear on the Kagari name that this next album is going to show the world what A Seed of Sorrow is really capable of!"

Both of Akko's parents chuckled at her youthful exuberance. Their daughter never knew when to quit when she put her mind to something, and that was a really admirable quality. "We're sure it will, my love," her mother said gently. Akko smiled warmly back at them. "Please focus on finishing up your studies, Akko. There will always be opportunities for you to play music."

Akko rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, Mother," she said exasperatedly. "I'll get cracking on the books soon. In the meantime, I wrote a new song! You two want to hear it?"

"Of course, Dear," her father spoke up. Akko smiled happily. Even if her parents were hard on her about getting a degree, she appreciated that they still respected her drive and her musical talent. She carefully straightened herself out before reaching for her guitar pick. Settling herself into a position to do an exaggerated power move with her acoustic guitar, she reached up to strum a chord.

"Akko!" a female voice called out from outside the bedroom. The brunette perked her head up and looked toward the opened door. "Are you coming or what? Lotte's getting antsy."

"I'll be down in just a second!" she called from up in the bedroom. Akko turned back to the screen and chuckled to her parents. "I think I'll have to cut this one short. Sucy is gonna have a crap attack if she has to watch another episode of this sappy vampire romance show Lotte's been making us watch lately by herself." Her parents took their turn to laugh in unison with their daughter. They knew her friends had their unique obsessions that Akko often played along with, just like Akko had hers that they went along with too. She turned her attention back to her parents and smiled longingly at them. "I miss you guys a lot. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about you two."

"We miss you too, Akko," her mother said lovingly. "We can't wait for you to come home." Akko smiled warmly at her two parents. She wished that she could see them in person again and that she didn't have to leave them so quickly. Another shout of her name from downstairs by Sucy though confirmed that her presence was urgently needed. Akko turned her attention back to the camera briefly and rolled her eyes.

"I think that's my curtain call," Akko said with a chuckle. Her parents laughed and looked at their daughter lovingly. "I promise I'll call you guys again soon."

"And remember to focus on your studies, young lady!" her father demanded in a playful yet serious manner. "I want good marks from you next semester."

Akko chuckled and smiled. "Got it," she said. She moved her finger over the button to hang up with the trackpad. "Love you, Mom! Love you, Dad!"

"Love you too, Akko," they both said in unison. Smiling again Akko blew them a kiss before clicking a button to end the call. From there she set her acoustic guitar down and walked out of the bedroom, but not before looking back at the guitar and the sheet music she had written on her bed along with the laptop her parents had called her from. She smiled but sighed heavily at the same time as she walked away and headed downstairs to her two friends.

* * *

 **Boston, Massachusetts**

* * *

The phone vibrated rhythmically against the night table at the edge of the bed. Its vibrations were amplified by the wood of the table, the metallic device rattling against the wood as it caused a small racket in the hotel room. Groggily its owner reached over to the device and plopped her hand down onto the night table, moving it around the end table until she grabbed a hold of the smart phone. Once it was in her hands the owner disconnected it from the charging cord it was plugged into and held it up to her face, looking at the time closely. The phone read 8:30 AM, and the time presented made the owner shift her weight in bed and slowly sit up from her slumber.

For Diana Cavendish today was a day she greatly looked forward to. Today was the day after the opera company's last performance of Mozart's _La Clemenza Di Tito_ , a six month run that had consumed much of her schedule. It was a typical run with yet another opera company that she had signed on with, a multi month affair that saw her performing the same show night in and night out for weeks on end with countless hours of practice in between. From the first day of practice until last night's curtain call she had fully memorized every line of the libretto, fully embodying the character of Vitalia and performing her arias, recitatives, and rondos for twenty six weeks straight from first performance to last, which was made even longer with the time that she spent rehearsing the part and getting herself into top form to take take the stage. The run had been a great success for the company, raking in thousands upon thousands of dollars for them to remain stable and allowing its performers and crew to be paid handsomely. But by the end of it Diana had wanted it to stop, finding each of the final performances of _La Clemenza_ to be rather tiresome and grating upon her nerves. She longed for something new to be added to her repertoire and she welcomed the ending of the company's run of _La Clemenza_. Not only would she probably not have to sing any of its arias for quite some time, but she would be able to go back to her family's estate in Dartmouth for a few weeks before her next role inevitably came and she would be called back to the opera company, a time in which she would have to practice and perform all over again like she had been doing for years.

She slowly got out of her hotel bed and stretched herself out, lengthening her spine and craning her neck from side to side before walking over to the bathroom and opening the door. From there she turned on the shower, waited for the water to warm up, and then stripped out of her pajamas before stepping inside. Once inside she took time to shampoo her long hair thoroughly and methodically. She scrubbed her scalp gently while rinsing her hair before adding the richly scented conditioner to her long wheaten locks. After rinsing her hair a final time and cleaning herself with a washcloth and body wash, she shut the shower off and grabbed a towel to dry herself off with. It was then that she got a knock on her door. Quickly, Diana threw a bathrobe over her body and went to the door of her hotel room. When she opened it there was one of the hotel staff holding a bouquet of flowers in front of her.

"Pardon me, Miss," the staffer said. "I was told to give you these in the morning by a kind gentleman. I think he was one of your coworkers if I had to guess. But he told me you were leaving tomorrow and that I should pass them on to you."

Diana raised her eyebrows and looked curiously at the bouquet. Carefully she took it out of the staffer's hands and thanked her. When the staffer left she shut her door and set the bouquet on the table before reaching down to open the card that came with it. It read:

 _My Fairest Diana,_

 _Your performance over these past six months has been nothing but magical. I have never been so fortunate to work with a woman who has such a phenomenal voice and such great beauty as you. Please consider these flowers a token of my affection. Perhaps..._

Diana did not bother reading the note any further and promptly threw it in the trash. The flowers may have been a kind gesture, but the last thing she needed was another pursuit at her heart by one of her male co-performers or stage hands. She had been dealing with that ever since she had developed into womanhood, her already apparent childhood beauty fully realizing its potential to the male eye and making her an appealing catch for anyone who had the pleasure of performing with her. The many potential suitors at first were amusing to Diana. Now they were exasperating and she made it a point to discard any mementos or gifts presented to her by the unscrupulous lot of them.

She decided that however she would leave the flowers in the hotel room for the next guest who used it. They were in a water filled vase with plant food already mixed in, so she knew they would last awhile without shriveling up and wilting.

Diana carefully packed up her belongings into her suitcases and did one last check on the hotel room before she departed. Once she was certain that nothing was left behind she exited the hotel room one final time and headed to the front desk to check out. After finishing her check out, she waited in the lobby while the valet went to retrieve her vehicle. While making herself a cup of tea she watched as her white Range Rover SUV was pulled up to the front of the hotel. Once she finished mixing some sugar into her tea Diana grabbed her bag and walked out the door to the Range Rover. She pulled a pair of black sunglasses out from her handbag and slipped them on before taking the key fob from the valet and getting inside. She smiled as she set herself into the Range Rover, knowing that today's drive was to be the first one she looked forward to in a long while.

Once she settled herself in Diana buckled her seatbelt and adjusted the mirrors to her liking before setting off. She drove down the streets of Boston toward the exit for I-93 South. Once she found the exit she put her foot on the gas and let the supercharged V8 of the Range Rover do the rest, accelerating her up to highway speed while she leaned back in her seat and kept her hands on the wheel.

She drove in silence for awhile before mutli toned chimes emanated throughout the SUV. She pressed a button on her steering wheel to answer, not looking at the contact's caller ID. "Diana Cavendish," she answered.

"Hey Diana!" a voice said from the other end of the line. "How's it going?"

"Are you on your way back from Boston yet?!" another female voice shouted from the other side of the line. Diana smiled gently. The voices were those of her closest friends in Massachusetts, Hannah England and Barbara Parker. "We've been so bored these past few weeks."

Diana shook her head and tapped her fingers on the door trim of the Range Rover. Hannah and Barbara, while good friends, certainly knew how to wear on her patience. "Well I gave you both every opportunity to come visit me in Boston," she stated in a mildly irritated manner. "And you two only visited once. Nevertheless, I do apologize if my lack of a presence bored you two."

"Oh, don't take it that way, Diana!" Barbara exclaimed quickly, apologetic for the tone of her voice. "We just missed you is all."

"Life in Dartmouth just isn't the same without you," Hannah chimed in.

Diana shook her head and sighed a little. Her two friends had a tendency to constantly exaggerate the necessity of her presence. "Well I'll be home for at least three weeks before my next performance," she exhaled. "It may be longer if I so choose."

"That's great, Diana!" Hannah exclaimed.

"We should go get martinis at The Black Whale!" Barbara suggested excitedly. "It would be the perfect way to celebrate your return from Boston. What do you say, Diana?"

"Please?" Hannah begged like a child.

Diana pinched the bridge of her nose while she continued down the freeway. 'Of course the first thing they suggest to me when I come home is going out to the bar' she thought to herself. She sighed and thought about her options. Drinking was about the last thing she had on her mind, especially at an exclusive bar like The Black Whale. Mostly what she wanted was to go home, unpack, and relax by her family's pool. She then began to consider the fact that she could go out later, and decided to speak up.

Before she could speak up further a loud series of chimes erupted through the cabin of the Range Rover. Diana looked up at the dash and saw numerous warning lights come on. More worryingly than the chiming and the warning lights was the fact that the Range Rover began to slow down to almost a crawl on what was a very busy stretch of highway. Taking quick action, she pulled out of her lane and into the shoulder. Once she was safe and her hazards were on she shut off the Range Rover. After waiting for a few minutes she attempted to turn it back on, only to be greeted with a message on the dash's TFT screen.

 _Critical failure. Safe mode engaged. Please visit service center._

Diana threw up her hands and bowed her head. "Of all the times for this to happen," she muttered to herself. She attempted to accelerate and get back onto the highway, but the large SUV refused to move quicker than fifteen miles an hour, hardly fast enough to safely merge. She put the Range Rover in park and sighed heavily. She noticed her phone call with Hannah and Barbara was still active and reached for the phone to put it up to her ear.

"I'll call you back later," she said in a manner that indicated she wasn't to be bothered before hanging up and sighing again. This day was just not going to go the way she wanted it to.

* * *

"Hi, Sir?" Akko said into the phone. "This is Akko from Foreign Performance Auto Works, how are you?" Akko paused briefly to let the man talk before continuing. "Yeah I was just about to get to that. So we took a look at your Panamera Turbo and we're very sorry to say that the left front air shock did indeed pop as we feared. So…"

The man on the phone immediately changed his tone of voice and began to grow angry. "Sir, if you'll please let me…" Akko began. The man only grew more irate the longer the conversation between the two of them went. Akko groaned and held the phone against her face. "Sir, according to my tech the airbag in the shock was clearly…" she went to say.

The man on the other side of the line only grew more irate at Akko and proceeded to insult her intelligence for being a woman, something Akko did not approve of and made her face grow red with anger. "Well maybe if you didn't drive your expensive German sedan over a curb then it wouldn't have popped, huh?!" she shouted. The man continued to berate her loudly from the other side of the line, insulting her intelligence and asking how it was possible a woman could have determined what had gone wrong with his car. Akko decided she had enough. "How about when you're ready to talk to me like a human being you can call me back, okay?! Sheesh!" With that Akko slammed the phone down on the receiver and crossed her arms in a huff. "Jerk!" she shouted back at the phone.

Akko remained leaned up against the drawer behind the counter she worked at and kept her brow furrowed and her mouth scowled with her arms crossed across her chest as she seethed with anger over his insults. If there was anything she hated in life, it was having her intelligence questioned. She despised when people assumed that just because she was a girl or didn't have a college degree that she didn't know anything about any subject matter. Nothing made her angry more than that.

"Someone getting on your nerves again?" a female voice said from behind her. Akko looked over to her left and saw a girl about her height with short red hair and green eyes coming out from a door behind her. "Constanze and I could hear you yelling all the way from the shop."

"Just that asshole with the Panamera," Akko said to the other woman. "He didn't believe me when I said that shock popped. He thought he knew better than me because I'm a girl." She clenched her fists and gnashed her teeth. "I can't stand stupid people like that, Amanda."

"Hey," Amanda O'Neil said as she placed a hand on Akko's shoulder. "Least you're not the idiot with an early model German sedan that needs a 3000 dollar air suspension fix." She shook Akko's shoulder and made the brunette smirk and look up at her.

"Yeah I guess there's that," Akko said with a smile. She uncrossed her arms and leaned against the counter with Amanda next to her. It was then that she looked up and saw a white flatbed tow truck pull into the parking lot of Foreign Performance and park itself, a large white SUV sitting atop of it. "What's going on?"

"Looks like we're getting a new customer," Amanda said. Akko and her looked closely at the SUV atop the bed of the tow truck. Amanda snickered at the sight of it. "Oh great, it's a Range Rover. This should be fun."

Akko looked closely at the tow truck and watched a blonde haired woman get out of the cab of the truck while the Range Rover was offloaded from the bed. Akko could just make her out but didn't notice much about her beyond her blonde hair and thick black sunglasses. She watched as the blonde woman walked toward the door. Akko could then better make out her appearance. A white silk blouse tucked into tan chino style pants covered her slim figure while a soft leather handbag was slung gracefully over her shoulder. Her hair went down past her shoulders and about halfway to her waist, colored a brilliant blonde that Akko herself had never seen before but was definitely somewhat awestruck by. Her feet were covered with stylized leather Keds, one of the most superfluous shoes she'd ever seen. Akko knew this woman was clearly someone with a lot of money to throw around, and watched carefully with Amanda as she walked away from the tow truck and into the expansive main entrance of Foreign Performance. She looked intently at her.

"A rich lady huh?" Amanda remarked, watching as the woman walked up to the door. She turned back to Akko. "Look on the bright side, Akko. At least she won't question you about why her Range Rover is taking a crap just because you're a girl."

"Yeah, there's that alright," Akko said with a chuckle. She watched as the woman opened the door and came inside. She straightened her posture to greet her. "Hi there," she said with a smile. "What brings you in today?"

"Oh nothing of any particularly wonderful circumstances," the woman said as she took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of deep blue eyes that gazed into Akko like knives. Akko breathed in quietly but sharply. This woman definitely had a regal allure to her that she did not expect. "My Range Rover seems to have experienced a 'critical failure' of some kind."

"Critical failure, huh?" Akko said. She looked over at Amanda. "That certainly doesn't sound good. What do you make of it?"

"It's a Range Rover, they're pieces of shit," Amanda remarked with a snicker. The blonde looked over at the redhead with a raised eyebrow, clearly insulted and not in the least amused. "I'm sorry, but they're just complex vehicles to work on."

"Well this was the only Land Rover certified repair facility near Dartmouth so I suspect you'll be able to get to the root cause, will you not?" the woman said rather formally and with a look on her face that said she did not approve of Amanda's use of profanity. Akko glared at Amanda and made the redhead scratch her head.

"We'll get to the bottom of it, Ma'am," Akko said with assuredness. She pulled out two documents for the woman to sign. "These are just waivers saying you authorize us to work on your Rangey. If you could sign these then we can get started." She turned to Amanda. "Think you could get back to the shop and take a look?"

"Whatever you say, Akko," Amanda replied with a smirk and a jab at Akko's shoulder before walking away toward the garage bay.

Akko shook her head and turned back to the woman, who was finishing signing the waivers. Akko took the papers and looked over at the name signed to them. "Diana Cavendish?"

"That's correct," the blonde woman replied as she stood at the counter, fishing through her purse to grab her phone. Akko could tell she was trying her best to remain at least somewhat composed in what was clearly a frustrating situation.

"We'll check on your truck and hopefully get you out of here in no time, Diana," Akko said as she took the pen and paper back from the woman and set it on her desk. "While you're waiting, feel free to sit in our lounge and grab a cup of coffee."

" Do you have any tea by chance?" Diana asked.

Akko looked over at the Keurig machine in the waiting area closely. "Um…" she muttered. She noticed a box of teabags sitting next to the Keurig and turned back to Diana. "We do indeed, though I'm not sure what flavors we have."

"That's not a problem," Diana replied, speaking in a rather formal tone once again. The way she spoke made Akko raise her eyebrow. It all seemed incredibly uptight. She watched as Diana walked away and went to the waiting area and got a cup of tea before taking a seat. Akko then went back to typing up an invoice for another customer's repair bill.

Roughly half an hour of silence passed before Akko heard something that she never expected to hear in her wildest dreams. When she heard it, she looked over at the waiting room and looked over at the blonde sitting in a chair looking at her cell phone while singing absentmindedly to herself to a tune playing off of her smartphone, singing in an absolutely impeccable voice that Akko could hear from her counter mounted desk.

 _I heard that you're settled down_  
 _That you found a girl and you're married now._  
 _I heard that your dreams came true._  
 _Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you._

 _Old friend, why are you so shy?_  
 _Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light._  
 _I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited_  
 _But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it._  
 _I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded_  
 _That for me it isn't over."_

Akko was immediately floored by the performance. The way Diana held onto the notes, the timbre of her voice, the seemingly perfect pitch. Everything to Akko sounded so unbelievably perfect that she could not help but let her jaw fall to the floor.

At that moment Akko realized something, but her train of thought was interrupted by Amanda coming back up to the front counter. "Akko," she called out. The Japanese girl looked up at her American friend. "You might want to come take a look at this Range Rover."

Akko raised her eyebrow and followed Amanda into the shop, taking her place next to the Range Rover, which had a diagnostic scanner plugged into its onboard diagnostic port. Amanda picked up the scanner and showed it to Akko. "Take a look at how many trouble codes this thing has."

Akko reached down and touched the screen of the diagnostic scanner and moved her finger up and down the screen. It revealed a startling amount of diagnostic codes were present on the white SUV. "Holy shit," Akko remarked in a manner that indicated her shock at the situation. "There's like twenty faults on this thing!"

"You're telling me," Amanda said as she took her place sitting in the Range Rover's driver's seat. "There's no way this thing has twenty mechanical faults, not with this few miles on the odometer." She set the diagnostic computer down and sighed. "This is why I hate Land Rovers. They blow all these codes but they don't give any indication as to what's actually wrong."

"So you think it's a bad sensor or something?" Akko asked.

"It's gotta be or this lady might as well buy a new Range Rover," Amanda snickered. "She looks like she has the money to do it anyway. Maybe we can take this one off her hands, fix it up, and sell it."

"Amanda," Akko said sternly. She wasn't in the mood for jokes or making the woman who owned the Range Rover any more agitated than she already was.

"What, a girl can dream can't she?" Amanda said with a chuckle. "I'll get started checking around. In the meantime why don't you go tell her that we're going to have to keep this thing overnight. Constanze and I are gonna need to work on this piece of shit all through today and tomorrow morning to figure out what's actually wrong with it."

"Sounds good," Akko replied as she walked back toward the shop. She then turned back to Amanda as she walked away. "Hey, Amanda? Can I tell you something?"

"Sure, Akko. What is it?" Amanda replied absentmindedly as she fiddled with the diagnostic scanner, trying to focus on the task at hand rather than paying attention to her friend.

"I think I found the new singer for A Seed of Sorrow," Akko declared proudly.

Amanda looked up at Akko curiously and raised her eyebrows, nearly dropping the diagnostic scanner when she saw Akko grinning from ear to ear. "You what?" Amanda said in a rather shocked manner.

"I found a new singer for our band," Akko said excitedly. She turned back toward the shop and began to sprint away. "I'll tell you about it later! But I'm certain I found one!" With that Akko was out of sight and back in the waiting area for the shop.

Amanda could not help but raise an eyebrow at her friend and bandmate's declaration. This sounded like another Akko Kagari plan, ne Akko Kagari gamble, that had the potential to go massively wrong. That, or Akko had just gone completely crazy.


	2. No Guts, No Glory

**AN: Wow, already so many favorites and alerts for a variety of different folks. Glad to know people are so interested in this story!**

 **No songs appearing in this chapter outside ones listed in certain sections, and I encourage all my readers to check out any songs or bands I mention in this story.**

 **Thanks for the support and keep on critiquing!**

 **Kind Regards,  
Symbiotic**

* * *

Poseidon's Poison was a quiet bar on the edge of New Bedford, not more than a quick jump from the ports where fishing vessels would disembark and dock after a long day out in the North Atlantic. The bar sat on a sleepy block not far from where the Acushnet River fed into the Atlantic Ocean. The bar itself was not quite a total dive bar but was nowhere near the title of being a high class establishment either. It was honestly about as nondescript as bars got. This never seemed to hurt their patronage though. It was frequented by just about everyone whether it was by local drunks, kids traveling from nearby schools, or just the various townsfolk from New Bedford. And it was here at Poseidon's Poison where one Sucy Manbavaran took up a job as a bartender.

Sucy stood behind the counter, passing drinks across the bat pas she mixed up cocktails and shots like a witch making potions. She liked to experiment on customers who didn't know any better what the pale skinned purple haired bartender was putting in front of them. Sometimes the customers would be off put, grimacing with distaste. But sometimes they would take pleasure in the odd concoctions and nod with approval. Sucy took a dark pleasure in gambling on the reaction she would receive.

She stood at a corner of the bar with Lotte Janson, who had her head in a Nightfall book with one of Sucy's concoctions next to her in a glass that she barely drank from. The two chatted for a moment until a certain brunette Japanese girl burst through the door of Poseidon's Poison and headed straight for the bar, bumbling about her pocket for a twenty dollar bill to hand to Sucy, panting lightly from her sprint.

"Can you break this into fives?" Akko questioned in a huff shoving the money at her friend.

"What for?" Sucy asked raising a dark brow.

"To put some stuff on the jukebox," Akko explained as she pointed to one of the speakers, which was blaring some country music that made her want to gag. Lotte sighed and Sucy winced, making Akko raise her eyebrows in confusion. "Guys?"

"Please be considerate to the other customers, Akko," Lotte pleaded with her Japanese friend.

"Oh come on guys," Akko scoffed, putting her hands on her hips in defiance. "I don't put on music that's that terrible."

"You played Cop Killer by Body Count when some police officers came in last week," Sucy stated in her typical deadpan manner while she cleaned a glass with a rag. Akko laughed nervously as she thought about the incident. It wasn't one she was particularly keen to relive even with her abject disgust for authority figures.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know off duty cops frequent this bar?" she pouted. Akko felt she was not at fault for the embarrassing situation. She crossed her arms and looked away like a petulant child. "I don't control what customers come here, Sucy."

"You do control what you choose to play on the jukebox though," Lotte stated plainly. "And you have a tendency to put music on the jukebox that is very. . ." She looked up and put her finger on her chin while trying to think of the words.

"Abrasive," Sucy said poignantly, finishing Lotte's thought. She finished washing her glass and took Akko's twenty harshly.

"Which Sucy and I enjoy but others maybe not so much," Lotte said with a twiddling of her fingers.

"Come on guys," Akko groaned. She watched as Sucy reached into the till on the bar and exchanged the twenty for some five dollar bills.

"If you get me fired for the music you put on the jukebox you'll suffer a fate worse than death itself," Sucy casually asserted. She grimaced at the thought of Sucy's punishment and knew the pale bartender meant every word she said.

Akko snatched the fives from her friend and bounced away towards the jukebox. "Yeah yeah. I got it," she called over her shoulder

Sucy ordered Lotte to follow her, and Akko sighed as her best friend trailed her to the jukebox. Keeping Sucy's words in mind and with Lotte looking over her shoulder, Akko selected four calmer songs; "Quicksand" by Lit, "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin, "Dr. Feelgood" by Motley Crue, and "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick. Akko still had enough credits for one song so she looked over at Lotte with an eager smile to play something that pushed the envelope. Sighing, she waved her hand and let Akko pick one more song. Being kind to Sucy but wanting to sate her musical appetite, she selected a fairly tame and recognizable punk rock song, "21st Century Digital Boy" by Bad Religion. She put in for that song to be played first so Sucy could hear it. She looked over and saw Sucy nod her head.

"Good enough," Sucy commented. She appreciated that Akko didn't pick anything that was too crazy.

Akko smiled like a schoolgirl who got away with a prank and took her seat next to Lotte. Sucy whipped her up a drink and and put it in a glass. Akko shook her head at it, saying she had to drive herself home and asked for a glass of soda instead. Sucy shrugged her shoulders and took the drink back, filling another glass with soda and passing it to her friend. Even if she did like when Akko played the role of human guinea pig, she could respect a desire for her to be safe and not drive drunk. Sucy may project a slightly off kilter demeanor at times, but hurting her friends was the last thing she wanted to do.

"So how was your day, Akko?" Lotte asked in a friendly manner, closing her Nightfall book to listen to her friend.

Akko took a sip of her soda and burped, making Lotte and Sucy wince in embarrassment. She blushed before collecting herself and looking at her friends with a triumphant smile. "Well I dealt with a total jerk today over the phone, but that doesn't matter because I found the next lead vocalist for A Seed of Sorrow!"

Lotte nearly dropped her drink at Akko's declaration. Sucy stopped filling the glass she had in hand and glanced over at her friend, who was now sitting up against the bar with her hands grasping the edge. Lotte even had to straighten out her glasses. Something was definitely amiss.

"You did what, Akko?" Lotte said with wide eyes.

"I think my favorite lady friend just happened to say that she found a new singer for your band," a male voice said from behind them.

Akko and her friends looked up to see a man in his late twenties wearing a finely tailored blue suit and carrying a well crafted briefcase. His hair was slicked back with pomade, giving it a sheen that seemed slightly unnatural but worked for his look. Akko looked up at him with a smile.

"Look at what the cat dragged in from England," Akko snickered. She reached over and took the man's hand and pulled him in for a hug, which he allowed and got a pat on the back for. "And straight to New Bedford too. What's going on, Andrew Hanbridge?"

"Not much," he chuckled. He set his briefcase down and took a seat at the bar, signaling for Sucy to make him a gin and tonic, which the pale girl did expediently. "Just back from another stint across the pond dealing with Father's nonsense. Such is the life of an international man of consulting, I suppose.

"Sounds like you were living the dream," Akko snickered while playfully patting Andrew on the back again.

"Ah but what would I do for a simple life where I'm working a job as a mere bartender or office assistant while traveling the world not for business but to play punk rock shows," Andrew remarked coyly, looking over at Akko at a smirk. He took a sip of his drink and looked back at Akko, Lotte, and Sucy. "Seriously, you don't know how good you girls have it."

"We do what we can," Akko said proudly. "I just hope you aren't crashing any cars in the rain," she reminded him playfully, remembering how they first met.

About two years ago Andrew had a car accident involving his BMW sedan that he was lucky to walk away from unscathed. Akko and him subsequently met when Andrew was getting an estimate on his car at Foreign Performance, and they hit it off over their love of international travel. Andrew in particular was shocked to find a common office girl with a rock band had traveled to almost as many countries as he had. Since then the two had become close friends and drinking buddies, taking time out of their schedules to always catch up on each other's happenings and discuss current events. Akko in turn had come to some of Andrew's business seminars, and Andrew returned the favor by attending A Seed of Sorrow shows, shows which he found surprisingly enjoyable.

"Thankfully I didn't encounter any hairy driving situations when I was overseas," he said with a light smile. "But I swear the moment I get back to Boston and my car service takes me back to Dartmouth we get cut off at least five times. You know they aren't kidding when they say Massachusetts drivers are the worst in the United States." He smirked over at Akko after taking a sip of his drink. "It might explain the driving habits of a certain Atsuko Kagari that I just happen to know."

"Hey!" she huffed at Andrew. "I learned to drive here!" She crossed her arms and held her nose up in the air, eliciting a chuckle from both him and Lotte while Sucy remained stoic against the bar.

"So how's SOS going, ladies?" Andrew asked while looking at all three women. "Have you been playing any shows since I was gone?" He looked over at Akko, who was looking away nervously and twiddling her fingers.

"Oh y-yeah," Akko stuttered. "We've been…"

"We haven't played a show in months," Sucy stated stoically as she poured a shot for another customer.

"Sucy!" Lotte exclaimed.

"What?" the puce haired girl said with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's true."

"Why's that?" Andrew asked curiously while holding onto his glass. "Have you girls still not found a singer? I thought you just said you found one, Akko."

Akko sighed a heavy sigh. She hated admitting she was encountering adversity, but that never stopped her before. It didn't mean it wasn't embarrassing for her to bring up. But then she remembered what she had said before and got her confidence back. "That's right, I did find a new singer for SOS," she declared triumphantly, crossing her arms and smirking with glee. "And with her we're going to take the world by storm." She looked over at Andrew and pointed at him. "In fact, Andrew, I was going to ask if you knew anything about her for me so I could get to know her better."

"You're asking me if I know the new singer of your punk rock band?" Andrew questioned with a raised eyebrow. "What makes you think I know anything about this person?"

"Because she wears fancy leather tennis shoes and drives a Range Rover," Akko began. "Plus she's from Dartmouth.I know your family had a house in Dartmouth and hangs out with all the high class snobs over there on the coast, so I'm sure you know her."

"How do you even know all this?" Lotte questioned.

"She said she was looking for the closest repair facility to Dartmouth," Akko explained. "So she must live there."

"So our new singer wears Keds and drives a Range Rover?" Sucy questioned skeptically, unsure of where this was going even with her intimate knowledge of Akko's mind and machinations. Not to mention whoever this person was that Akko was talking about didn't seem like a punk rocker, much less a rock musician, in the least. Something was definitely amiss, or at least being exaggerated by Akko at the moment.

"Mmhmm! And she's got the most incredible voice ever," Akko said confidently. "She's the perfect singer for A Seed of Sorrow and she'll totally take us to the next level."

"Akko, where are you going with this?" Lotte questioned.

"And why do you think I know this person just because my family has a home in Dartmouth?" Andrew questioned skeptically. He had just about had enough with her assumptiveness. "Okay, Akko. Who is this person you think I know so well who's going to sing for SOS?" He reached for his gin and tonic and took a long swig of it while Akko went to ask her question.

"Andrew, what do you know about a lady named Diana Cavendish?"

At that moment Andrew's eyes shot as open as wide as they could possibly be and nearly dropped his glass. Akko, Lotte, and Sucy all widened their eyes and raised their eyebrows as Andrew appeared to choke on his drink and covered his face. They watched as blood shot to his cheeks and he held his hand over his mouth while making choking noises. Sensing a cry for distress, Akko and Lotte quickly reached over and patted Andrew on the back, making the noises subside. He still held his hand over his nose and had a grimace strewn across his face.

"Are you okay?" Akko asked curiously. Andrew smashed his fist on the bar and continued to grimace while holding the bridge of his nose. "Andrew?"

"Jesus Christ, Akko. You made my drink go up my nose!" Andrew shouted while grimacing in pain. Akko leaned back from him and let him cough and rub his nose. "Goddamn it bloody hurts!" Akko snickered. She loved when Andrew used profanity and threw his high class upbringing conventions out the window.

Eventually Andrew composed himself and looked back over at his brown haired Japanese friend with a look of complete disbelief. "Akko, did you seriously just tell me that you got Diana Cavendish to be the lead singer for A Seed of Sorrow?"

"You bet!" Akko said with a proud of smile. "It was a piece of cake."

"Might I ask how exactly you did this?" Andrew asked, his voice seething with impending irritation. He was very curious about the details of this story, and he could tell immediately where it was going when he noticed Akko begin to blush and twiddle her fingers. His high class upbringing and knowledge of the art of public speaking let him quickly figure out that he had caught Akko in a lie, which he was not at all surprised to catch her in regarding this situation.

"W-well you see," Akko babbled nervously, twiddling her fingers as she looked down at the floor from her barstool. "I just…"

"You didn't really ask her, did you?" Sucy asked in a still deadpan tone.

"God damn it, Sucy!" Akko scathed, fuming over the fact that one of her closest friends outed her. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling before looking back over at Andrew. "No, I didn't ask her. But I heard her sing while she was waiting in our shop for her Range Rover, and she sounded incredible. She'd be perfect for A Seed of Sorrow." She slammed her fist on the table and looked at her male friend intently with fiery determination coming from her eyes. "That's why I have to know everything about her, Andrew. And more importantly, do I have a shot at getting her to join our band?"

Andrew sighed at the question. "Do you really want my honest opinion, Akko?"

"Lay it on me," Akko said while leaning up against the bar with a confident but absolutely shit eating grin.

"You have a better shot at winning the lottery," Andrew stated matter of factly. Akko frowned at the response and her heart sank into her chest. "Your chances of getting Diana Cavendish to join your band are none to none."

"But why?" Akko groaned throwing her face down on top of her folded arms. "You can't be serious."

"Akko, Diana Cavendish is a professional opera singer," Andrew explained in a curt manner. "You probably were so awestruck because she was showing off her vocal talent, which I must admit is incredible. But she would never sing for a punk rock band, much less one like A Seed of Sorrow."

"But why not?" Akko demanded to know. "I mean we're not Blink 182 but we got a solid fanbase. We play big festivals and go on international tours. Why wouldn't she join?"

"Because she probably sees punk rock as being beneath her," Andrew stated shrugging casually. He took another sip of his drink, careful to swallow before Akko startled him again. "She comes from a long line of opera singers who have performed around the world." He paused and took another sip. "Look Akko, Diana's family and mine have known each other for awhile and they are not exactly the kind of people who would enjoy the music you play. Diana would most definitely see punk rock as being nothing less than a bloodsport for unsophisticated brutes."

"Hey, we are not unsophisticated brutes!" Akko shot back at Andrew. Andrew sighed with a straight face at her and went back to drinking his gin and tonic. "And you only said probably, not definitely. So there is a chance?"

"Atsuko Kagari," Andrew groaned in exasperation. He knew Akko would never let this go, and that was part of the fun of hanging out with her. He would never let that be known by the way he looked at her. He always kept things calm and collected around Akko, unless he had booze flying up his nose because of outlandish questions about high society folk who she thought he intermingled with.

Akko felt she was losing him and began to beg, clasping her hands and bending over on her knees on the dirty bar floor while looking at him with near teary eyes. Akko had mastered the art of crying on demand and now looked like a lover trying to stop their partner from leaving them in the cold. Andrew rolled his eyes and scoffed at the sight before him. She pleaded with her male friend, "Andrew, I'm desperate here. I know she's our next singer and I'm never going to find a singer like her. I gotta get her into the band. I'll never forgive myself if I don't at least ask. Please, tell me how to I can get Diana Cavendish to join A Seed of Sorrow."

Andrew sighed heavily and put his head in his hands. "You're really not going to let me get out of this, are you?" Akko stood up and shook her head to say no. This was so typical of her to be as stubborn as a mule. He couldn't believe what he was about to do for his friend. "Okay then. Gather around and listen closely. If you're gonna do this you'll have to do everything I say."

* * *

Diana spent the next three days doing a mix of relaxing in her family's 15 bedroom estate on the coast of Dartmouth and spending time with Hannah and Barbara. The other two girls would usually join Diana at her family's compound and take time to lounge in their bikinis and take a dip in Diana's indoor pool or hot tub. Diana usually would just sit back and enjoy the brief moments of silence she would get, having experienced enough commotion with the opera company back in Boston while she was performing the past several weeks. If she was completely honest with herself she wished she could get Hannah and Barbara to leave her alone for a couple of days, but she knew that their intentions were good and couldn't fault them for wanting to spend time with her, even if the time spent usually took advantage of her wealth and her estate.

It was on one of these bouts of hot tubbing and relaxing that Diana found herself laying in her bikini on a lounge chair, sunning herself with rays while Hannah and Barbara enjoyed her hot tub. She sat drinking a cup of tea and reading a copy of Anna Karenia while the two girls enjoyed the soothing hot water, though they found it rather lonely without their blonde friend in the water with them.

"How are you doing over there, Diana?" Hannah asked, sitting on the edge of the hot tub with her arms folded on the hard surface surrounding the warm bath.

Diana reached up and took a sip from her tea, taking comfort in both the sun and the taste of Darjeeling. "Absolutely fine, ladies," she replied contently. She took another sip of her tea and went back to her book.

Hannah and Barbara had a frustrated look strewn across their faces. "Why won't you join us in the hot tub, Diana?" Barbara begged from her friend.

"Because I'm fine over here," Diana stated bluntly. She really wished the two girls would just leave her alone.

The two girls looked at each other distressed that their closest friend wouldn't come over to them. Diana looked up at her friends with her brow furrowed, annoyed by the fact that her two closest friends seemed so hapless. She wished they would just let her be and she could stay put. Clearly though they weren't going to let her do that, so she exasperatedly stood up and went to go walk over to the hot tub. Hannah and Barbara smiled broadly as the center of their friend group came over to join them.

But it was not meant to be. For as soon as Diana began to walk over to the hot tub, a vibration began to emanate. Diana and the two other girls looked back over at the lounge chair that she had been resting on. Curious as to who could be calling her, she reached down and picked up the smartphone resting on a table next to her chair. She put it up to the side of her head after answering the call. "Diana Cavendish," she spoke into the microphone.

"Hey, Diana," a voice said happily from the other side of the line. "It's Akko from Foreign Performance. How are you doing?"

Hannah and Barbara looked at Diana curiously. "I'm fine," she replied. "What do I have the pleasure of you reaching out to me for?"

"Hehehe, it's funny you asked," Akko replied nervously over the phone. Diana raised a sharply arched brow at the tone of Akko's voice. There was a pause on the other end of the line that went on for a few seconds making her suspicion grow. "I wanted to let you know your Range Rover is ready for pick up…" There was a pause on the other end of the line that made Diana tilt her head slightly. She had a hunch something was amiss and took a moment to break the silence.

"And?" she said slowly, unsure of why there was a pause on the other end of the line.

"And, ummm, nothing! Nothing at all. It's just ready to be picked up whenever you like. We're open till 6:00 so feel free to stop by at any time, 'kay? Alright? Bye!" With that the call ended, and Diana was briefly left with more questions than answers. She was particularly struck by the unusual tone of the girl on the other end of the line. She decided to put it aside for now but made a mental note of the exchange.

One thing was certain though. At this very moment Hannah and Barbara would at least make themselves useful to her for a little while.

* * *

The whole plan seemed ludicrous, convoluted, and a crappy solution at best. In some ways Akko could not believe she was going through with it. Was she really that desperate? In all honesty she was. A Seed of Sorrow, the band she had worked so hard to build and had been her labor of love for years, was growing stagnant. They hadn't played a show in awhile, like Sucy had bluntly reminded her. They were hardly even writing new songs beyond Akko's noodling on her acoustic guitar and a few jam sessions; activities that would most likely lead to nowhere as far as new material was concerned. To quote one of her favorite MxPx songs, Akko and A Seed of Sorrow were going nowhere fast. That had to end, she resolved, and it had to end now.

But did it really have to end this way? Did she have to do it the way she was about to do it? For once in her life, she wondered if good old fashioned straight up honesty might work better than Andrew's plan. What was preventing her from going right up to Diana and saying "You have an incredible voice, would you like to join my band'?" Straight up honesty sometimes, more often than not, had a tendency to at least partially work in her favor. She felt like she should just give the honesty thing a shot. And then she remembered Andrew's words.

 _"Because she probably sees punk rock as being beneath her."_

Nope, Akko resolved. Honesty was not going to work here. Only a straight up jangly lie would help her get what she wanted in this situation. She remembered how Andrew said his plan was the only way that she could even get remotely close to the result she wanted, and she knew damn well that Andrew knew the ins and outs of conversing better than she ever would. Akko may have been able to negotiate with foreign festival promoters who spoke neither English or Japanese well, but negotiating with a high class member of society was an activity she was definitely not prepared for. Andrew knew the art of negotiating, it was after all he had been taught his whole life to do and did for a living now. So Akko swallowed down the butterflies and spiders, that were crawling up her throat, and resolved that she was going to do this.

As she readied herself against the counter of the inevitable exchange, Amanda walked out from the shop and up to Akko. "So Constanze and I checked out that GTI and it turns out the oxygen sensor is all fucked up because…" she began. She noticed Akko wasn't paying attention and was looking out the window intently at something, which she soon realized was a Mini Cooper S carrying three people that was pulling up to the shop. Both Akko and Amanda looked at the car as it pulled into a parking spot, and they noticed that in the front passenger's seat was Diana.

The sight made Amanda erupt into laughter. "Did they really cram three people into a Mini?" she howled. "Oh god that's rich." Akko and her watched as the three women disembarked the tiny hatchback, which made Amanda laugh even more. "Akko, look! It's like a freakin' clown car!"

For a moment she went to discard her plans. Asking Diana when the two of them were alone was difficult enough, but doing it in front of her two friends? That seemed like a surefire way to end up in a very embarrassing situation.

Akko watched as Diana told the other two to wait outside with nothing but a wave of her hand. She was surprised with the ease that Diana commanded them to stay. Now she just had to get Amanda out of the room.

"Umm, hey, Amanda, can you go tell me what kind of tire we need to order for that C63?" Akko asked randomly.

Amanda raised her brow and looked over at Akko confused. "I told you and saw you write it down already," she said puzzled. "It's a Pirelli Corsa…" Akko watched as Diana went to open the door and grew antsy, glaring at Amanda to get her to go away. It wasn't working, and Diana was about to walk through the door.

"Well do you think you could please get me the tire size again?!" she asked rather loudly, her eyes nervously flicking back and forth to Diana like a metronome. Amanda still didn't get the message, and Akko was losing patience and time to get rid of her at an ever increasing rate.

"The tire is Pirelli 235…" Amanda began. Akko by this point had enough and decided to take matters into her own hands as Diana began to walk to the desk, the click clack of her heels emanating throughout the front of the shop.

"Yeah but it's a staggered stance and I need the rear tire size!" Akko demanded while she pushing Amanda away. "So do you think you could get that for me?" Amanda scrambled to fight her shoving, but was pushed into the shop and the door was slammed behind her. Akko exhaled after her friend was shoved into the shop, and she sprinted back to the front of the bay entrance, where Diana was standing with her fingers drumming on the countertop.

"Hi," Akko huffed. She looked up at Diana, who was again wearing a blouse but this time with high heels and a pleated grey skirt. She watched as the blonde took the same black pair of sunglasses off her head and folded them into her handbag. "Diana, right?"

The blonde woman raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes," she replied slowly. "Akko, right? You spoke to me on the phone I believe?"

Akko felt her whole face go warm and her palms begin to get sweaty. "Just say it already, Akko," she whispered to herself. "Just get it out of the way…"

"Get what out of the way?" Diana questioned curiously. Akko looked up and saw that Diana was looking at her a bit confused. She smiled nervously. Diana must have thought she was crazy.

"Just getting…" she said nervously. The blonde looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Just getting you out of here and on your way, that's all!" she blurted out hastily, shaking her hands in front of her body as if to deflect questions. Diana gave her a suspicious glance.

Akko didn't want the conversation to end, so she grabbed the invoice for Diana's repair and shoved it in front of the heiress, making her raise her eyebrows in surprise at the force it was shoved into her grasp. "It's funny, all that was wrong with your Rangey was a bad thermostat. And it was telling us that it had twenty different faults! So we saved you from a big bill."

"That's wonderful," Diana replied in a short but polite manner. She still sounded unnaturally upright, which confused Akko and actually somewhat bothered her. "Will your staff be pulling it up front for me?" Akko couldn't get a read on the opera singer, unable to figure out if she was coming off as a fool to the woman before her. She desperately wished she had Andrew's conversation skills right now.

"Y-yeah," Akko stammered. "Should be any moment now."

She inwardly kicked herself as Diana walked away toward the door. She was losing her chance. Maybe it was best if she just let Diana walk away. Andrew said it best, Diana saw bands like A Seed of Sorrow as beneath her. What was the point?

 _"I know she's our next singer. And I'm never going to find a singer like her. I gotta at least try to get her into the band. I'll never forgive myself if I don't at least ask her."_

"Hey, Diana?" Akko spoke up. The blonde woman turned back to look at her, which made Akko tremble. She swallowed and centered herself. She had to believe she could do this. It was her moment to seize, and she would not let it slip through her fingers. "I heard sing you the other day," she began, staring Diana down confidently. "You sounded great."

She could see a slight blush spread across Diana's face, a small amount of pink that meant she was definitely caught off guard. It was not something Akko expected, and admittedly she found it pretty cute to see the girl who had been cold as ice so far show some emotion. "Oh," Diana muttered. "Thank you. I appreciate the compliment."

Diana's reply and the look on her face instilled Akko with a fresh dose of confidence. She had her coming. "You really sounded amazing," she replied. "Maybe the best I've ever heard. Have you ever consider singing in…" She caught herself before she said more. "An ensemble?"

"An ensemble?" Diana parroted back tilting her head and crossing her arms

"Yeah, umm, you know, like a group." Akko said confidently. "I just so happen to be in said ensemble and we could use…" She grasped to remember how Andrew told her to word this, feeling the gap in conversation going wider. After a few seconds of silence she remembered what her line was. "A soloist! Yeah, we need a soloist for our ensemble, and you would be perfect."

Diana's brows shot towards her hairline briefly before her face resumed its usual composed expression. "While I appreciate your offer, I politely must decline," Diana said calmly. Once again she sounded so formal it bordered on being robotic, which confused Akko. "I'm not looking to join any groups at the moment," she explained

Under normal circumstances Akko might have backed down in defeat. But true to her stubborn nature, she decided she wasn't going to let Diana slip through her fingers. Andrew hadn't told her what to do to keep Diana engaged, only how to pose the question and hope for the best. He hadn't given her any advice on how to push back against a no. Her mind racing, Akko then blurted out the only thing that came to her in that moment.

"Oh so you're scared?" she barked. "Is that what you're saying?"

Diana sighed and rubbed her temples before turning to face Akko. Both of them remained silent for a few seconds, letting what Akko had blurted out set in before saying another word. The Japanese girl felt her cheeks grow red once she realized just what she had done. This was not the route she'd intended to take but she was not going to back down now. She held her ground as Diana began to walk with heavy feet back toward her desk.

"Scared?" Diana retorted in an almost bored manner. She began to walk toward the desk. Her high heels click clacked against the tile floor of the shop, cracking the air like lightning on a hot day. The sound made Akko shiver. This was definitely not what she wanted to face down. "You think I'm scared? Scared of what? This 'ensemble' that you want me to join? Desperately most likely based on your approach." By now the two were face to face and Diana was no longer blushing. That little bout of cuteness had been thrown out the window and was seemingly gone for good. Now icicles were shooting from her piercing blue gaze straight into Akko's face.

"I will have you know," the blonde began while staring Akko down confidently, as if she had done this sort of dress down a million times before. "That I have performed in front of crowds of hundreds night in and night out, memorizing hundreds of thousands of lines of music, performing as the lead soprano in operas and musicals from New York to Paris to Moscow and back, in front of heads of state and people whose fortunes you cannot begin to fathom how large they are. But you think I am scared of joining your pathetic little ensemble that you're practically begging me to join?"

Akko huffed angrily, gritting her teeth. Who did this lady think she was? What gave her the right to call her band pathetic? "What are you saying? That we're not any good? We're not good enough for you, huh?"

"Perhaps I am," Diana replied. She flicked a strand of hair out of her face and gave Akko an arrogant half smile. "That or you must be really desperate for my talents."

Akko huffed in a large breath and dug her heels into the ground. Her temperature was rising fast and her face was growing red with anger. "What makes you think I'm so desperate for your 'talents'?" she shot back.

Diana scoffed at the brunette and put her hands upon Akko's desk, making the Japanese girl grind her teeth in anger. "First you compliment my voice, which while very generous, was clearly an attempt at flattery," she stated while she counted off the intricacies of Akko's speech pattern on her fingers. The conceited yet disinterested tone in Diana's voice coupled with the counting made her blood boil. "Then you proceed to ask me if I've ever considered joining an 'ensemble." She made air quotes around the world 'ensemble', which made Akko want to explode. "Before I responded to your compliment you were stammering like a child caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Then you have the nerve to call me scared?" Diana shook her head at the last statement. "Clearly that in it of itself was something else that was pathetic. A pathetic attempt to get me to talk to you, which I suppose worked, but perhaps it only worked because I am bored enough to entertain your pathetic little games while I wait for my Range Rover." Diana brushed the front of her skirt before glancing upwards and straightening her shoulders. "So, what do you say to that, Akko?"

Diana had said enough. Pathetic? She was calling the band she put her heart and soul into pathetic without even giving them a listen? Under normal circumstances any punk rocker with half a brain or a dose of maturity would have just let the insult go. It wasn't supposed to matter to someone with Akko's work ethic and attitude. But calling the most important thing in the world to her pathetic? Now things had gotten personal.

"You really think we're so damn pathetic," Akko snarled. Diana took a half step back at her tone. "That I'm just begging you to join us?" Akko finished leaning over the counter.

Diana closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, having a hard time believing actually entertaining this girl's attitude. "I apologize if I came off as cross," she sighed. "But I'm really not interested in…" She watched as the brunette girl suddenly began to furiously write something on a piece of paper. "What are you doing?" The paper was then hastily shoved into Diana's hands. Diana looked down at the paper and saw an address along with a date and time. She raised her eyebrows and looked at the piece of paper before looking back at the girl before her, whose face was now as red as a beet and her fists clenched so hard they could crush rocks.

"If you think we're so damn pathetic," Akko gritted out. "Than would you at least give us the pleasure of gracing us with your presence at our next rehearsal? The address and time is right there." Diana leaned back slightly, feeling the seething tone in Akko's voice. She clearly had upset the brunette more than she originally intended.

Diana smiled politely placed the piece of paper into her handbag. "I'll consider the offer," she replied impassively. Her bored looking visage only made Akko want to punch her, and the arrogant way she carried herself out through the door of the shop and to her Range Rover made Akko want to throw a brick through her SUV's windshield.


	3. The King Is Dead

AN: Alright! The definitive version of this chapter! Some of you who follow this story know I initially posted a version of this chapter that I wasn't happy with and wasn't fully beta read. Now it's been revised and has a new ending that I'm far more happy with. Sometimes I do that with these stories given the fact that the posting manner is kind of blog like in nature, but in the future I'll try to make sure the work is more heavily revised when I'm posting in the future

This is the first chapter where a song by A Wilhelm Scream comes into play. The song is titled "The King is Dead" (hence the chapter name). I highly recommend giving it a listen when reading the section of the story where the song comes into play.

One of the defining features of A Wilhelm Scream is their two and three part vocal harmonies, which was one of the reason I picked their music as a source point for this story. Because A Seed of Sorrow features three different vocalists, I had to figure out a way to show how the voices are interchanging, separating, or harmonizing. The system is as follows:

 _Any lyrics italicized are sung by Diana  
_ **Any lyrics in bold are sung by Akko (also the reason why this author's note is not in bold text)  
** Any lyrics underlined are sung by Amanda  
 _ **Any combination of underlined, italicized, and bold text signifies a harmony between multiple singers**_

As always, please review, critique, and thank you for the support! Rock on, folks!

Kind Regards,  
Symbiotic

* * *

Later that night Akko returned to Poseidon's Poison, this time with Lotte agreeing to pick her up so that way she could have a drink for a change. Lotte could tell by the way Akko was completely silent and breathing heavily in the car that something bad had happened at work, and that her friend wasn't in the mood to talk about it. She was worried about what had happened with Akko and Diana. She had been present when Andrew presented the scheme to her that was supposed to help her get what she wanted.

The two arrived to find Sucy and Andrew already there, both hanging out near the corner of the bar. Andrew went to ask Akko how the attempt at asking Diana went, but instead he watched her walk right to the online jukebox, put a five dollar bill, and pick five songs. Lotte ran up by her side to prevent Akko from picking anything too crazy, but unfortunately only made it in time to stop her from picking two more songs. The ones she picked were highly abrasive "You Suffer" by Napalm Death, "Hell Awaits" by Slayer, and a song she spent extra credits on to play first in the list, "I Will Be Heard" by fellow Massachusetts residents Hatebreed. Sucy put her head in her hands and Lotte winced away at the music. Andrew looked up with a raised eyebrow at Akko as Jamie Jasta's powerful declarations emanated throughout the Poseidon's Poison.

"You're so lucky my boss isn't here," Sucy seethed as she began to make Akko a kamikaze shot. She was not in the mood for Akko's antics, but knew exactly what kind of potion would calm her friend down.

"Shut up," Akko shot back as she took the shot from Sucy. She threw her head back and downed the shot in a single gulp, making both Lotte and Andrew look at their friend worried. "Give me another." Sucy shrugged her shoulders. She had a rough idea of what made Akko so upset, but she was smiling from ear to ear that it put her friend in a mood to down a few more of her shots. Quickly she whipped one up and passed it to Akko, watching the brunette quickly down the shot before throwing cash down onto the bar to pay for her two shots and two more shots.

Before she could pay Andrew reached over and handed Sucy a metallic credit card. "Put it on my tab," he offered. "I got a feeling this is going to be a rough night."

"Let me pay for my own drinks, Andrew," Akko growled at her wealthy friend. She took another shot from Sucy and downed it quickly, setting down the glass a little harder than necessary. "You don't need to help someone as pathetic as me."

Andrew craned his head back and raised his eyebrows at Akko. "Pathetic?" he said surprised. He watched as Akko slumped down in her seat at the bar, a dejected and distraught look on her face. "Pathetic is the last word I would ever use to describe you, Akko."

"Well tell that to Diana Cavendish," Akko stated in a tone that was half a choked cry and half an angry growl. Andrew watched as Akko put her head in her hands and, much to his surprise, actually began crying, unable to stay the typical assured girl that Andrew was so used to seeing. Now she seemed broken, a shell of her usual uppity and confident self.

She sniffled from her nose and tears fell from her eyes upon the bar table. "What happened today, Akko?" Lotte asked, putting her hands on her friend's shoulder next to Andrew. Akko remained silent, only sniffling and letting her tears fall as her two friends held her shoulders. "You can tell us. We're both listening. Sucy's listening too."

"Do I really have a choice?" Sucy questioned with a roll of her eyes followed by a gentle smile. She came over and took her place at the bar in front of her friend. Akko may have been stubborn, thick headed, abrasive, and sometimes a complete idiot, but she was Sucy's complete idiot and bandmate, and she always respected and cared about Akko's feelings.

With her three friends now showing their support Akko picked up her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she squeaked out of her throat. She took a deep breath to center herself before going back and leaning on her hand against the countertop. "Things just didn't go the way I wanted them too."

"What happened?" Lotte asked curiously.

Akko felt her lips quiver as she struggled to recount the story of what happened. "I tried to ask Diana to come to one of our rehearsals." She looked over at Andrew with watery eyes. "I even tried to word things just the way you said they should. I called us an 'ensemble' instead of a band. Instead Diana called us pathetic." She didn't bother telling them about calling Diana scared. She felt completely defeated and regretful enough that she didn't need Andrew or Sucy calling her stupid, which she knew they would do. "I should've listened to you, Andrew. You were right when you said I had a better shot at winning the lottery than getting Diana to join A Seed of Sorrow."

"Akko," he said gently. He looked at how dejected his friend felt and frowned, upset that he had helped put her in this position. "If anyone here is pathetic, it certainly isn't you."

"Not according to Diana Cavendish," Akko scoffed before sniffling and tearing up again. "She tore me down pretty good at the shop today when I asked her." Her sniffled developed into small sobs and she put her face in her hands. Tears stained her palms. "And who knows? Maybe by this point we are pathetic. We can't play live and record without a lead vocalist. And if we don't do anything soon then we might as well call it quits."

"You want to give up because of what Diana said to you?" Lotte asked. "Akko, that doesn't make any sense."

"That's also not very punk rock," Sucy pointed out. "And frankly stupid after all you've accomplished."

"Akko, look at me," Andrew began. He reached over and gently put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She looked up at him with watery eyes, her own emotions being held down by nothing more than swallows in her throat. "I don't know what Diana said to you at the shop today, but I know for sure you aren't pathetic. You've taken something that I admittedly didn't think anyone cared about and built it into an international brand. I still don't know much about punk rock or heavy music in general, but I do know a lot about businesses. And by any measure you put it Akko, you've run a successful business." He could see Akko smiling and shook her shoulder to get her to chuckle. "And you know what else? That's a lot more than someone like Diana Cavendish can say."

She wiped the tears away from her eyes and wrapped her arms around Lotte and Andrew, smiling from ear to ear as she sniffled a bit. "Guys, what did I do to have such great friends?" She looked at Lotte and Sucy closely. "And two even better bandmates."

"You're just lucky we go along with all your plans," Sucy said with a light smile. Akko rolled her eyes at the puce haired woman. She could still be poignant even when it wasn't necessarily called for, though Akko appreciated her honesty.

"So what's next, Akko?" Lotte asked. She held her best friend and band mate's hand tightly. "Like Sucy said, we'll go along with whatever plans you come up with."

Akko sighed again and put her chin in her hands. "I don't know," she sighed. She sniffled to get rid of the last of her tears. "I guess we'll keep looking for a singer. And we'll keep writing new stuff for when we find one." She looked over at Lotte, Sucy, and Andrew and felt the positive thoughts come back to the forefront of to her mind. She couldn't stay upset forever, not in the company of her two bandmates and one of her closest friends outside of the band. "And you know what, fuck her!"

"Huh?" Sucy muttered from behind the bar.

"Fuck Diana Cavendish!" Akko declared loudly, loud enough for the whole bar to look at her with raised eyebrows. Akko didn't back down from her declaration and even stood up on the barstool in triumph. "We don't need her. We're A Seed Of Sorrow and we're gonna conquer the world!"

Andrew sighed with a smile and went back to drinking his gin and tonic. He was happy to see one of his closest friends back in the form he was always used to seeing her in.

* * *

A few nights later on the other side of New Bedford which wasn't far away from the bridge connecting the more working class town to Dartmouth, sat Le Pace Night Club. It was a mid-size nightclub, hardly the most exclusive establishment in the area but not one with the most open doors. It was fairly modern on the inside, with relatively new decorum from a recent renovation and a flashy bar that was lit by black lighting from above. Usually a DJ was in attendance to provide live music, mostly of the newest dance hall remixes and dubstep tracks for the patrons to dance to. But perhaps most importantly to Diana, Hannah, and Barbara was that it was a place where they inevitably wouldn't be bothered by lascivious men and they could dance in peace. That's because Le Place was a gay bar, and the idea of going to a gay bar pleased Hannah and Barbara. Diana herself was not fundamentally opposed to attending Le Place. On the contrary she was someone who actually wouldn't be out of sorts in the club there given her own sexuality.

Diana had known since childhood that she was not straight, having discovered it at a very young age. She always dreamed of being not the princess to be saved from the clutches of a dragon but the knight in shining armor who would save the princess. When her childhood best friends would ask who she wanted to marry when she grew up, Diana always said she wanted to marry a girl, usually one of her friends, always confidently and assuredly even in the face of laughter and taunting. Diana knew that her own sex was what she was attracted to and that she would always be this way, no matter what she tried to change about herself. She never did try anyway, for she was content with her sexual orientation and accepted it as being what it was.

While she was never angst ridden over her sexuality she made it a point to keep it as close to her chest as possible. She viewed love as a burden given her profession, knowing that anyone she potentially found attractive and worth courting would never be around her permanently as she traveled from one stage to the next. And while Diana was certainly not completely opposed to sexual flings and had experiences with such, she always sought greater commitment beyond the lustful bouts that she had undertaken in the past. In recent years she resolved not to seek out any sexual gratification beyond what she could provide for herself unless she found a committed partner. And so far she had been unsuccessful in finding such.

She watched from the bar as Hannah and Barbara moved their bodies on the dance floor. They were held from behind on the hips by two gay men who were willing to partake in the two straight girls' games. Their amusement was not something that Diana shared. She wasn't opposed to straight people attending a gay bar, but she was opposed to the way Hannah and Barbara treated the space and its patrons. In her eyes gay men were not just some toys to use as an outlet to vent their own frustrations and be a safe place for them to dance with. She felt treating them as such was less than dignified, but she didn't make a scene about it.

When the one song ended and a brief lull swept over the dancefloor Hannah and Barbara separated themselves from the two men, giggling with them briefly over the flirtatious exchange. Both girls blew each one a kiss. It was in this moment that Diana watched Hannah get approached by a young brunette woman who had been on the dance floor. She was very effeminate in appearance. Her shoulder length hair fell in soft waves and she sported a fairly tight and mildly revealing outfit that Diana actually found to be somewhat attractive. Had Diana been on the dancefloor herself she would have readily accepted her offer. She watched as the woman walked up behind Hannah and slid an arm around her slender waist. Diana's mouth dropped open when the redhead proceeded to turn and harshly shove away the girl. She could see Hannah spewing angry words and only caught the last few words when Hannah raised her voice towards the end of the exchange. 'I'm not one of you ok? So go away!' The display filled Diana with a deep disgust and anger she had never felt towards her friend before.

Diana wondered if it was really fair to be upset with Hannah given that she never told her or Barbara about her sexuality. Her preferences were technically her business. But yet Hannah's response still filled Diana with a burning anger. She would remain composed, but she was going to do everything in her power to leave Le Pace because she had no desire to be around the company she had come with any longer.

She watched as Hannah and Barbara came up to her and sat at the bar. "Everything okay, Diana?" Hannah asked blotting her brow with a napkin. She took her place at the bar and watched as Diana stared at the wall of liquor in front of her while her mind roiled with emotions. "You want another drink?" she asked in annoyingly lilting voice.

She pursed her lips and shook her head. "No, Hannah," Diana replied curtly. "I'm actually a bit bored if I'm honest."

The two girls eyes grew wide and they immediately leaned in close to their friend. Concerned looks were strewn across their faces. "What's the matter, Diana?" Hannah asked

"Are you feeling feverish?" Barbara asked as she placed her hand onto Diana's forehead. Quickly and without a second thought, she slapped Barbara's hand away, eliciting a shocked reaction from the black haired girl. "Diana?"

"What?" she hissed. She turned back to face the two girls, her piercing gaze puncturing any exuberance they had felt before. The both turned pale and glanced at each other. Diana felt true anger creeping into her system. She clenched her fists and pushed onwards. "You know what's wrong ladies? I'm not into this scene, and frankly the way you two are treating the patrons of this place is beyond rude. Watching you two grind your asses into the crotches of a bunch of men who couldn't care about the fact that you're women is repulsive. Have you no decency?"

"Diana, we were just…" Hannah began nervously. Diana was having none of it.

"No, Hannah, Barbara, you know what you just are?" she hissed venomously clenching her fingers onto the bar. "You're disgusting. Both of you are absolutely disgusting."

The two girls shirked back in their barstools like small dogs. Diana dug threw her handbag to find her loose cash and grabbed a clump of money. Mixed with all of the crumpled bills was a piece of paper with a hastily scrawled address and time. She studied it carefully and decided what her next move would be.

Diana looked across the sea of sweaty bodies before making her choice. "I forgot I have an audition ladies, I apologize," Diana explained while rushing out of the bar in a huff.

* * *

In the recesses of a basement lit by some overhead tube lighting, Akko stood with her black Epiphone Les Paul guitar slung over her neck. She reached over at the tuning keys on the headstock, fiddling with them as she watched the lights on her floor placed chromatic tuner indicated to her the tune of each string. Her turns were fine movements, not to drastic in either direction, trying hard to just get the proper tune. Her bandmates respectively stood around her, holding their instruments or in Lotte's case sitting behind her drum set. The three of them waited patiently for the Japanese girl, but their patience was wearing thin.

"Why are you so stressed over whether or not you're in tune?" Sucy questioned while she held her bass in her hands.

"Because if my guitar isn't in tune then I'm not going to be in tune when I sing," Akko explained. She didn't take her eyes off of Sucy, looking at the tuner instead of at her friend.

Sucy got the impression that this was not something that Akko was actually trying to perfect and more like a nervous tick. The explanation that Akko gave also didn't make sense. "Akko, we're just playing in Amanda's basement. Why are you…"

"Look I'm just trying to make sure everything is perfect, okay? Is that hard to get, Sucy?" she shot back in agitated manner, clearly not willing to hear her bandmate. Sucy threw her hands up in the air and took her place over by her amplifier. "Can't a girl just tune her guitar in peace? God damn."

Amanda decided she had enough of her band mate's stalling and decided to call her out on it. "Okay Akko," she said, standing up from her sitting position and picking up her brown Schecter C1 guitar. "Spill the beans on whatever the fuck is bothering you or we're calling it quits for the night."

"Amanda I…" Akko began while not picking her head up from her tuner.

"Spill the beans now," Amanda demanded firmly. She was no longer in the mood for Akko's stalling.

Akko sighed in defeat and stopped fooling with her guitar's tuners, feeling she had got close enough to where she wanted to be. She turned and faced the rest of her bandmates. Her stiff posture and straight but a cracking look on her face were clear indicators of the anxiety that she was experiencing. "Look guys, after what happened the other day, I did some thinking and decided that I'm done trying to find us a singer," she stated in defeat. "I'm just going to sing everything myself."

"You're gonna what?" Amanda questioned with a raised eyebrow. Her band mate's declaration caught her completely off guard. It was if it came from nowhere without any reason.

"I'm gonna sing everything by myself," Akko repeated. She sagged her shoulders and looked down at the carpeted floor which they played upon. "It's hopeless, guys. We're not going anywhere and we need to get back out playing live if we have any chance of surviving. And I'm not going to let A Seed Of Sorrow wither away like this any longer."

"Well that pun was clearly intended," Sucy remarked with a snicker. Akko didn't appreciate the humor, so Sucy turned back to her with a serious look on her face. "You sure you want to do this, Akko? You're gonna fundamentally change everything we've written and played up to this point."

"And you know that neither Lotte nor Sucy are going to sing," Amanda stated as she held the neck of her guitar.

Akko turned back to her two other bandmates that held down the rhythm section and looked them both. She never expected Lotte to sing. That would be too much of her to ask knowing the workload she put herself through playing the drums at the kind of pace they played at. Sucy had a pretty good voice but the puce haired bassist refused to use it as part of any kind of vocal harmony no matter how hard Akko begged. Akko realized that what Sucy had said about everything being radically different was right, but she felt she had no other choice.

"We'll make it work," Akko declared. Despite her assured proclamation there was a nervousness to her voice that Lotte, Sucy, and Amanda all picked up on. They knew their friend wasn't confident in her declaration.

They watched as Akko turned on her amplifier head and put a set of earplugs into her ears. Her band mates followed suit. "Let's do 'Kursk' from the top, okay?" She watched as Amanda, Lotte, and Sucy all nodded at each other and got in position to play. "Give me a countdown, Lotte."

The bespectacled girl held up her drumsticks over her head and went to tap them together. "One, two, three…"

Before she could get to four the door to the basement opened up. The four of them looked up to see a tall, somewhat pudgy girl with braided hair at the top of the steps. She wore a plain grey t shirt with a pair of shorts and munched away on Sun Chips from a bag. Amanda sighed at the sight. "Jasminka, we're trying to practice here! What's your deal?"

"I'm sorry, Amanda," the Russian girl said with her mouth half full. "But I wanted to let Akko know that someone she invited here is at the door."

"Someone that Akko invited over?" Amanda said. She raised her eyebrow at her Japanese friend. "Who did you…"

Lotte and Sucy both looked at each other with surprise, joined by Akko when Jasminka broke the news. Akko didn't even hesitate to put her guitar down. She bolted up the steps with her guitar in hand. She knew exactly who had shown up.

* * *

The house had rough white siding with a rundown facade over ragged concrete steps that had clearly seen better days. Diana knew immediately that the property was a rental given the way it looked on the outside. She should have known better than to expect anything else. She hardly expected a mansion like her estate in Dartmouth, but perhaps she expected something a bit nicer. Then again this was New Bedford after all. Dartmouth was where all the wealth was.

She pulled up in her Range Rover and paused before going inside. Was this really worth it? She had no idea what she was stepping into by attending this rehearsal. What kind of 'ensemble' was actually rehearsing behind those walls? Would the young woman from the shop be there? And, Diana asked herself, would she actually participate or just watch?

She quickly brushed that last question aside. Of course she was going to participate. Akko had asked her if she was to fill in the void of a soloist, whatever that exactly meant. Diana had a rough idea, but was far from certain. But not participating would be incredibly rude of her, and being rude was the last thing on her mind given the way she had bailed on Hannah and Barbara.

She stepped out of her Range Rover and made her way over to the front door. Pressing the button for the doorbell, she stood and waited for a few moments. The door was opened by a tall but somewhat round girl eating from a bag of Sun Chips wearing nothing but shorts and a baggy t-shirt.

"Hi," the girl greeted with her mouth half full. "How can I help you?"

"Hello," Diana greeted politely. She watched as the girl swallowed and wiped off the crumbs from the chips with her shirt, which made Diana grimace and lean back slightly. "I'm looking for an Akko. Are you one of her roommates?"

"No but Akko is here," the girl replied. She took another handful of Sun Chips and ate them with a smile. "What's going on?"

"She told me there was a rehearsal of some kind at this address," Diana explained politely. The girl kept eating the chips in front of her, getting seasoning all over her face. Diana found the display very distasteful. "Is there any way you could go fetch her?"

"Mmhm," the grey haired girl replied. "Hold on just a minute."

The girl with the braided hair shut the door and disappeared for a few minutes. Diana took the time to check her text messages until she heard the sound of the door opening. She expected the girl eating the chips to appear, but instead was greeted by the brunette Japanese girl with her hair slicked back into a ponytail. She held an electric guitar in her hand and wore a white t-shirt with red lettering that spelled the word "Balls" on it. Diana raised her eyebrow. She knew Akko was lower class but didn't expect something so vulgar. And what was with the electric guitar?

"So you actually decided to show up," Akko said with a begrudging tone in her voice. She looked up at Diana with a furrowed brow and a suspicious glance. "What for? To grace our pathetic ensemble with your presence?"

Diana sighed at the girl's response. She should have known the greeting would be less than pleasant after what had happened back at the shop. She didn't seriously expect Akko to grovel at her feet, but maybe she thought Akko would be more enthused to see her. "Look," she began. "I was very harsh with you at the shop the other day, perhaps too harsh given the circumstances." She crossed her arms and looked away from Akko, not wanting to meet the brown haired girl's gaze directly. "I figured to make it up to you by attending and participating in your ensemble's rehearsal."

She watched Akko's eyebrows go up, but the suspicious look stay strewn across the Asian girl's face. "You're gonna sing instead of just standing around?"

"That's my intention. Unless you don't you want me to partake in your ensemble's rehearsal tonight," Diana asserted, looking back directly at Akko. She watched the brown haired girl stand up to meet her gaze. "So what will it be?"

She watched as a smile came across Akko's face and the girl stepped aside. "Come on in," she offered. "We're rehearsing in the basement."

Diana nodded and followed Akko into the house. She could see the hastily painted over spots on the walls and felt the somewhat rickety floorboards squeak beneath her feet. She followed Akko to a door and let the Japanese girl open it. From there the two walked down an old staircase to the basement. "So, Akko," Diana asked, looking curiously at the Les Paul in her hands. "Are you an instrumental ensemble as well?"

"You could say that," Akko said coyly. Diana raised her eyebrow.

Eventually the two made their way down the steps and arrived in the basement. Under the tube lighting better made out the rehearsal space. Interspersed between the tiles of soundproofing material were various posters and flags for what appeared to be either rock bands or various gangs, with names like Cro-Mags, Metallica, Stormtroopers of Death, and Agnostic Front pressed against black and white fabrics. The room was strewn with band equipment, ranging from amplifiers to drum racks to cases and a mess of wires and cables. Perhaps most striking to Diana however was a purple flag with a gold triumvirate emblem and the words "Luna Nova College of Art and Design" written on it. Diana took careful note of that piece of regalia.

There were three other women who were standing around, one sitting behind a drum kit while the two others held a guitar and bass respectively. Diana raised her eyebrows at the whole scene, and the red haired girl who she recognized from the shop stared back at her with an equally shocked look on her face.

"Akko, why did you invite the woman who had the busted Range Rover to our rehearsal?" the redhead questioned, surprised just who arrived down the stairs.

Diana looked at her suspiciously. She remembered the redhead from when she had brought her Range Rover in and didn't trust her, given that she had been so quick to insult her over her then broken SUV. "Why would you ask that?" she replied. Diana looked over at the Japanese girl, who was now blushing like a tomato. "Akko, what am I missing here?"

"Hehe. .. hehe…hehe. . .heh. . ." Akko laughed nervously. She pointed her hands back at Diana. "Guys, meet Diana. She is here to rehearse with our 'ensemble'." She said the word ensemble with gritted teeth, as if to not reveal the true nature of their dealings. She turned back to Diana nervously and pointed out each of her bandmates. "Diana, these are the 'ensemble' members. Amanda on guitar and vocals, Sucy on bass, and Lotte on drums."

"Nice to meet you," Lotte said with a wave her drumstick and kind smile.

"Nice to meet you as well," Sucy said with a wave of her hand.

"Likewise," Diana replied. She looked back at Akko and knew something was very amiss. "Akko, you never told me this was an all instrumental ensemble. Just what kind of music does your ensemble play?"

"Wait wait wait," Amanda interjected while looking over at the brunette. Akko was now red all over and shaking like she was out in the winter, deeply embarrassed. Diana was clearly not expecting this kind of reception. "Akko, you didn't fucking tell her what kind of music we play?"

Sucy facepalmed herself and held her hand on her forehead. Lotte looked completely embarrassed, her face falling onto the head of her snare drum. "Akko, remember how I said you were our idiot and we would always go along with your plans?" Sucy brought up. The Japanese girl nodded nervously. "Well you are officially the biggest idiot in the universe."

"Sorry guys…" she stammered. "I just had to…"

Diana sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. This nonsense had gone on for far too long. "Enough of this," she interjected. All the women in the basement looked at her. "I should have known better than to not ask what kind of music this 'ensemble' plays." She turned to Akko and stared directly into her eyes. Diana could tell she was piercing directly into Akko with her gaze. She was doing everything in her power to squeeze out an answer. "So tell me, Akko, what kind of music does this 'ensemble' play?"

For a moment she watched Akko tremble, but then something somewhat remarkable happened. She watched Akko clench the neck of her guitar and hold her picking hand in a fist. Suddenly, where she appeared meek and defeated, now she appeared confident and strong. Now it was her eyes piercing Diana, like fire shooting out at a storm of ice. Diana looked sideways briefly at Akko. She wondered what spurred the change the sudden change in the shorter girl.

"We're called A Seed of Sorrow," Akko asserted confidently. She narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger at Diana. "And we play punk rock!"

Diana felt a laugh creep up from her chest and into her throat. Punk rock? That's what this ensemble played? It slowly came to a realization that she was not here to rehearse with any ensemble in need of a soloist, but with a rock band looking for a singer. She couldn't believe what she had gotten herself into, and tried so hard not to laugh at how ridiculous this situation had become.

Diana inhaled deeply and then exhaled. "Okay then," she muttered. She still felt the nervous laugh creeping up in her throat. She quickly cleared it before she could let it out. "You play punk rock. That's positively wonderful."

She saw Akko raise her eyebrow and look at her suspiciously. Perhaps she was giving away too much sarcasm in her voice. "So are you gonna sing with us or what?"

Diana felt herself actually taken aback by the statement. Was she going to sing? That was ridiculous of her to think she wasn't. "Of course I am," she retorted. "It's just that…" She cleared her throat again. Why was she so nervous? "It's just that I…" She paused and looked away. She felt unreasonably nervous in the given situation. "I don't have any experience singing punk rock."

She watched Amanda face palm herself and Sucy groan before looking up at the ceiling. "You know what, Akko? I agree with Sucy," the redhead remarked. "You are the biggest idiot in the universe."

"Hey!" Akko exclaimed with her brow furrowed. "Give the girl a chance! We won't know how good she sounds until she tries." She glanced over at Diana with a more welcoming look. "Besides, you haven't heard her like I have."

She greatly appreciated Akko's defense, not that she needed it. It was a surprising change in tone from the curt manner in which Akko had treated her before.

Diana felt herself tapped on the shoulder and looked behind herself to see Sucy holding a pair of headphones with her free hand. "You'll want to put these on," the puce haired bassist stated matter-of-factly. "It's about to get really loud in here and none of us want you to blow your eardrums out."

"Thank you," she replied notedly. Diana reached out and took the headphones from Sucy's hand. Sucy nodded and walked back to her amplifier. Diana slipped the headphones over her ears and turned back to Akko, who was fishing through a backpack on the floor. "I don't presume you happen to have any notated lyrics for me, do you?"

"Hold on," Akko stated. She watched the brunette rummage through the backpack . After a few minutes of searching she pulled out a black spiral notebook with the word "Ruiner" written in red ink. Akko handed Diana the notebook. "Turn to the first page."

"'The King is Dead' from the top?" Lotte asked curiously.

"Mhmm," Akko replied. Diana raised her eyebrow and opened the notebook. She expected scrawled lyrics without any rhythm whatsoever, but was somewhat shocked to find an almost fully notated staff sheet, complete with a fully notated rhythm for the words. She nodded impressed. This Akko girl knew more about what she was doing than Diana thought.

She still wasn't entirely sure how to approach the lyrics pitch wise. "How exactly do you want me to sing this?" Diana questioned.

"However you see fit as long as it follows the rhythm," Akko said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I trust you'll get it right."

"Look at it this way, Princess," Amanda said with a smirk. "Punk rock doesn't necessarily have a right or wrong way to do things. You just follow your heart and do what you think is best."

Diana scoffed at the nickname Amanda had bestowed upon her. It seemed unduly derogatory and highly crass. She didn't appreciate it in the slightest. Still, the redhead made an interesting point. Following her heart? Singing however she saw fit?That was something that was wholly new to her. However she saw fit, she thought. That was rather unnerving considering her whole life she had been following instructions in her performances.

Diana decided in her head she would approach the lyrics as a recitative. That seemed the most fitting way to go about them, given their lack of rhyme scheme and the vocal patterns on the staff sheet. She did a few quick exercises to warm up her voice before turning back to the other women in the room.

"I'm ready," she said. She turned back to her microphone in the center of the room and inhaled deeply before exhaling. "Whenever you are, Akko."

Akko nodded her head in affirmation. She was more than ready. "Lotte, give us a countdown?"

Once again the bespectacled girl raised her drumsticks over her head and tapped them together. "One, two, three, four!" Diana winced for the coming onslaught of what she thought would come out of the amplifiers in the room. But it never came.

Instead, she listed as Akko strummed a lone arpeggiated power chord, rather quietly and nuanced. The Japanese girl then shifted into a muted arpeggio sequence, gently picking the strings of her guitar. Amanda then proceeded to do a tapped guitar pattern while Sucy followed along with some high notes on her bass. The bars made Diana raise her eyebrows to. Just what kind of music was this? Was something this well arranged and nuanced actually considered punk rock?

Akko and Amanda then went into the same arpeggiated sequence briefly before Akko began to play her own different one. Sucy followed along with some bass notes from behind. After four more bars of the arpeggiated riffing, Diana watched as the two other girls approached their microphones. Then it was her turn to join, right as the music went from being calm to onslaught she was expecting came into form.

 _The knife or the rope or the lemon, this brain and I.  
_ **The sight of the drop got me off the roof.  
** _Hey, the garage looks cleaner when you look at it sideways, from high!_

 **To finally admit we are born alone,**  
 **And that your only one's got an only one of their own.** _  
We'll get the right sun block for the nice explosions._  
 _Oh, the king is dead!_

 **To absolve the joy from me is to erase what made me a slave.  
** _I'm a king to be!_

And then Diana heard something she never expected, a voice that was unlike any she had heard before. And it came from the Japanese girl standing next to her.

 **I traded my life for art and the guilt is weighing down my arms!**

Diana raised her eyebrows and felt herself go slack jawed. Where in the world did such passion, such emotion, come from? How was that even possible?

She was so awestruck by Akko's vocal display she almost missed her re-entry to the song.

 _Tell me again what a monster is, give me the words to describe._  
 _Can you tell me what the use of endorphins is when my city dies at night?_  
 _ **Take away the sentence of house arrest and watch me ruin it right.**_  
 _ **Put me in the back of an ambulance cause my city dies tonight.**_

Before Diana could appreciate just how good the vocal harmony between her and Akko sounded, the song picked up speed again and she had to turn back to her staff.

 _I see the levity of every meeting of the minds.  
_ **I lie to myself,:  
It's my right to do.  
** _I'm separated like an elevator door for privacy from my eyes._

 **To finally admit we are born alone  
and that your only one's got another robot to take the throne.**  
 _Heartless of the world deny_  
 **The king is dead!**  
 **Fuck, the king is dead!**

(Woah!)

 _Heartless with your burning eyes._  
 **The king is dead!**  
 **Fuck, the king is dead!**

(Woah!)

In the heat of the moment Diana realized she had forgot to censor herself from saying the profane parts of the lyrics. But that didn't seem to matter, not with how this music seemed to get her blood coursing in ways she had never felt before. And it didn't help that the way she harmonized with Akko made her forget a lot of things as well.

The song showed down once again with the help of a slick bass riff from Sucy before going quickly into a short guitar solo by Amanda. The two guitarists then tremolo picked their way around a soft beat from Lotte before erupting into a rapid breakdown section. And then Akko took her place at her microphone again as the song slowed down.

 **To wade through the virus of your lies**  
 **To cheat through death is only in my eyes.**  
 **To wade through the virus of your lies**  
 **To cheat through death is only in my eyes.**  
 **And the sinking feeling came over me…**

Diana felt herself shiver at the vocal solo, not in disgust or fear but shiver in pure shock, like she had been rattled to her core. The emotion displayed simultaneously sounded both gentle and raw, conveying both grief and understanding at once in a manner she never expected. Diana could hardly believe what she just heard. It made all sorts of questions run through her head. Was she trained? Who did she study under? Was she just naturally gifted? Just where did that voice originate from.

Once again she was so awestruck she nearly missed her bars.

 _And it said, "never again, never again"._  
 _"Never again, never again."_  
 _The king is dead!_

 **I traded my life for art and the guilt is weighing down my arms!**

 _ **Tell me again what a monster is  
Tell me again what a monster is  
Tell me again what a monster is  
** **'Cause my city dies tonight.** _

With a quick drum beat the song ended. Diana breathed deeply, inhaling and exhaling with sags of her shoulders and controlled rises of her chest. She looked down at her left hand and went wide eyed. Her hand was gripping the microphone in the stand tightly, to the point of growing sweaty. Her right hand holding the notebook was trembling. Her heart was beating rapidly and goosebumps were all over her arms and collar. Even the hair on the back of her neck was standing up.

What in the world just happened, she thought. Why did she experience such a rush, such a burst of elation and excitement? How was it possible she had never felt this before?

She looked back at the other girls in the room. All of them expressed equal shock to her on their faces. Lotte, Sucy, and Amanda all had their eyes widened as their stared down Diana in complete awe. But none looked more shocked than Akko, whose wide eyes and eyebrows sitting at the top of her head along with a slacked jaw indicated a level of surprise that clearly neither of them expected.

Diana looked away from the girls and shook her body, running a hand through her blonde locks to compose herself. The adrenaline still flowed through her, and nothing she could do could seem to calm her nerves fully.

"Well then," she muttered. She flipped to the next page in the notebook and looked closely at the next song. "Shall we do a rendition of…" She looked closely at the song title. "'Killing It', I suppose?"

"Y-yeah," Akko stammered. Diana could hear the tremble on her voice from her own adrenaline rush. "That sounds good." She watched Akko straighten herself out and get into better posture. "Lotte, give me another countdown?"

The orange haired girl raised the drumsticks over her head and tapped them together. "One, two, three, four!" With that two power chords rang out from the amps and the song began.


	4. Slipping Through Fingers

**AN: Chapter 4 is ago! I'm glad to get this one finally out, though once again it may be altered mildly after its beta read again. I feel at the moment its good enough to post, so I figured I'd share it with all of you.**

 **No songs in this chapter, but a bunch more will appear in the next few chapters.**

 **Also as an update; I'm going on vacation all of next week. After that I will be starting a new job that will have some very intensive training. I plan on continuing the story to its very end as I'm having a blast writing this, but updates will be coming a little less frequently than they did before. Still, I will not abandon this story. It's far too fun for me!**

 **Thanks again for all the support and read on!  
-Symbiotic**

* * *

The rehearsal continued on without so much as a hitch. Akko, Diana, and the rest of SOS ran straight through the whole "Ruiner" album in one take before focusing on individual parts of songs that needed to be worked on. For something that was supposed to just be sort of a test of the waters, Akko found that Diana immersed herself deeper than expected, which left her impressed considering Diana had never sang punk rock before. It actually gave her a newfound respect for Diana's talents. Though it was just a rehearsal she could tell that Diana was more than just someone with a voice that knew how to use it. She might have been the most talented singer that she had ever heard. And if Akko was completely honest with herself she was just as awed with Diana's performance as Diana apparently was with the rest of the band. The blonde had made Akko's adrenaline rush in ways that she didn't know was possible. It filled her with a deep sense of admiration that she had seldom experienced in her life.

When the rehearsal was over Akko walked with Diana back out to her Range Rover. She had more than her fair share of questions for the blonde she was walking alongside. "I thought tonight went pretty well," she said. She still worried that Diana thought the band was beneath her, so she resolved to keep a straight face.

"I'm glad," Diana replied shortly but politely. She picked up her pace slightly and began to step away from the Japanese girl as they walked out of the house and across the gravel driveway.

"It was fun to play 'Ruiner' all the way through," Akko said as she followed behind. "We haven't done that in awhile and you made it really easy." She picked up her pace to keep up with Diana. She didn't understand why the blonde singer was so eager to get away.

"Again, I'm glad," Diana said kindly, but still in a very short manner. The two women walked across the gravel driveway toward Diana's SUV. The only sounds were their footsteps and those of crickets chirping in the night air. Diana didn't say a word. Akko felt a certain unease at the blonde's silence. She had a hunch something was getting on Diana's nerves. Inwardly she hoped it wasn't her.

"So did you have a good time?" Akko asked slowly. Again she couldn't get a read on Diana, and it didn't help that the blonde appeared to be walking just a step faster than she was toward her SUV. She increased her speed to match Diana's pace. "Diana?"

"It was an experience," she replied carefully. Akko raised her eyebrow. Was Diana trying to hide something from her? It didn't take Andrew's conversation skills for Akko to know that Diana was still feeling somewhat anxious, but maybe she didn't truly realize just how anxious and emotional she was feeling in the moment. "Thank you for inviting me tonight, Akko."

Akko watched Diana open the door of the Range Rover and sit down inside before she shut it. Once she did she started the SUV, its V8 burbling to life and purring gently with a bassy exhaust note. The blonde went to drive off and leave, but not before Akko tapped her window and made her roll it down. The blonde lowered it slowly, looking Akko directly in the eyes while she tapped her fingers on the door trim. "What?" she questioned firmly.

Akko furrowed her brow and clenched her fist, not as hard as when her and Diana were back at Foreign Performance but in a way where she could easily assert herself and hold in some of her emotions. Akko learned a little bit from talking with Andrew about how to get what she wanted in a conversation. She knew that having an emotional outburst was not going to necessarily get her anywhere, so she tried to hold it back the best she could. She did all she could to remain composed, but also tried to be as direct as possible with her questions.

"Well," the Japanese girl began. Diana continued to drum her fingers on the window trim. Her tapping seemed to match Akko's heartbeat, which began to unsettle her. "Are you gonna come to another rehearsal or not?"

"Akko, I…" the blonde began. Akko watched Diana rub her temples again and sigh. Her exasperated expressions made Akko curious. 'Why is she so wound up and always so annoyed at everything', she thought. It confused her to the point of making her annoyed.

"Well I just want to know," the Japanese girl demanded sharply. She took a deep breath as Diana looked back up at her with the same piercing sapphire gaze that seemed to define her entire aura. " Am I wasting my time, Diana? Because if I am I'll look for someone else!" Akko asserted. "Then you won't have to grace us with your presence anymore." She clenched her fists and tried to stare down the blonde the best she could, even though she felt it almost impossible to not be brought somewhat low by Diana's intense eyes.

She inhaled rapidly and stopped herself from saying more when she realized her voice was cracking. She didn't want to get emotional in front of Diana the way that she did at the shop, or even worse the way she did after downing a few shots at the bar with Lotte, Sucy, and Andrew. It was becoming hard for her to not do that but she did her best to keep it back. Anything affecting A Seed of Sorrow had the tendency to make her emotional. A Seed of Sorrow was her child, nest egg, and more all rolled up into one. If anything was going to affect it she would get very defensive. And if she was honest with herself after what happened tonight she had every reason to get defensive over what Diana was going to tell her.

She watched the blonde let out a sigh and look down at the floor of her Range Rover, shaking her head as the V8 continued to burble in the night air with its low bassy voice. "What do you want, Akko?" Diana sighed.

"I just want to know if you'll come to another rehearsal!" Akko shouted. "Is that too much to ask?"

She held her hand over her mouth and gasped. She had lost control of herself. 'Shit', she cursed silently to herself. 'Shit, shit, shit. How could I let that happen?' She still looked Diana straight into her eyes but was now feeling far less confident. She was filled with a sense of nervousness, anxiety, and even longing she had never felt before toward someone else, not even her parents. It was as if Diana was drawing something out of her that she had been keeping deep within.

Instead of simply driving off though she watched Diana sigh again before leaning her head back against the pillowed headrest of her driver's seat. Akko thought she was annoyed, but she then caught a glimpse of something else. Instead of the bored, nonchalant, disinterested gaze that she saw back at her job, this time she saw a look that was very contemplative and focused, like a composer fretting over whether a single note in a critical part of a symphony would make or break the whole composition. It made Akko look at Diana with a curious glance.. "I will consider it," she said impassively, repeating the use of the same tone that she used back at the shop.

"You'll consider it?" the Japanese girl questioned with a raised eyebrow. "What does that even mean, Diana?"

"It means I'll consider it!" Diana shot back sharply, as if to tell Akko to back off and give her some space. Akko winced at the anxiety and irritation coming off of Diana's voice, making it very clear that she was violating Diana's personal space and should back up before she crossed anymore lines. "Now, are you quite done? I'd like to go home."

Akko locked her eyes with Diana for a moment, holding herself one with the icy gaze of the blonde haired singer before her. The two remained in this position for a few seconds, the jostling of gazes going on until Diana put the window on her Range Rover up and began to pull away. Akko watched as the white SUV pulled out of Amanda's driveway and drove off into the night. She was left standing still.

Without a second thought she reached into her pocket for her phone to send out a text message. She would never let Diana Cavendish slip through her fingers like this.

* * *

Two days passed since the rehearsal and a lot of questions were still on Diana's mind, mainly about herself and just how she reacted to the music at the rehearsal. The trembling, the goosebumps, the way the hair stood up on the back of her neck. The way SOS's music made her heart race. The way the other women in the band looked at her in shock. And the way they played the music seemingly so perfectly. And especially Akko's voice. Almost every thought in her head centered around the emotion and passion that seemingly flew off of Akko's voice.

All that had to be thrown aside for the moment as she got up from her bed and slumbered toward her bathroom. She stripped out of her pajamas and went to her expansive bathroom to take a shower. She stood for several minutes under the hot water, trying hard not to think of the events a few nights before. But nothing she did could get those thoughts of just how she felt about Akko's voice out of her head. It didn't matter if filled her head with the lines of one hundred and one librettos, nothing was going to get that voice out of her mind. And that didn't comfort her in the slightest. In fact, it actually scared her and chilled her bones under the hot shower.

Before she could finish scrubbing her body with a washcloth she heard her phone began to ring from inside the bathroom. She shut the water off and threw a towel over her body along with wrapping one over her head before peaking at the caller ID. The caller was someone who she never expected; an old acquaintance who she hadn't seen or spoken to in some time. With a curious raise of her eyebrow Diana picked up the phone and held it to her ear. "Diana Cavendish," she answered.

She heard a male voice laugh gently on the other the of the line, her brow remaining raised upright in curiousity. "Do you always sound so uptight when you answer the phone?" the voice asked curiously.

Diana scoffed at his response and furrowed her brow. "You interrupted my shower so I don't know what you expected," she stated exasperatedly. She leaned up against her sink and looked at her nails closely. "For what do I have the pleasure of you being so rude to me at this hour?"

"I thought about reaching out to you a few days ago but I figured you needed space," the man on the other end stated. "I know how stressful your schedule has been of late."

"You have no idea," Diana said with a roll of her eyes. She undid the towel wrapped around her head while she held the wrapped around her body as she headed to her walk in closet. "So what is your reason for reaching out to me?"

"Oh nothing serious," the man stated. "I wanted to know what your plans were this morning, if you don't mind me asking."

Diana raised her eyebrow again as she looked for some clothes to pick out for the day. She pulled out some clothes while leaning the phone against her ear. "I didn't have any," she replied curiously. "Why are you asking?"

"It's been quite some time since we last had a chance to catch up," the man stated. Diana fiddled with her clothing choices after she finished putting on her underwear as the man on the other end of the line spoke. "I figured if you were free it would be an apt use of our time, especially since my morning tee time called out sick."

"What do you propose?" Diana questioned as she got dressed.

"Maybe a different kind of tea time," he suggested. "One that involves actual tea instead of the links, perhaps?"

Diana rolled her eyes. The proposal was so predictable she saw it from a mile away. "Your puns are terrible," Diana commented. She heard the man snicker on the other end of the line. Of course he would find some amusement in her comment. "But I suppose your plan is not objectionable given my empty schedule today. Do you have a time?"

"How about in an hour?" he proposed. "Meet at Mulberry House?"

"I'm fine with that," Diana replied as she grabbed an outfit and walked out of her closet. "I suppose I'll see you soon?"

"I suppose so," the man replied. "I'll see you later then." The man then bid his farewell and Diana did the same as she finished getting dressed.

After taking care of a few tasks around her house she goodbye to her maid Anna and headed off in her Range Rover to meet her old acquaintance in downtown Dartmouth. She stopped at the teahouse and walked inside. After looking around briefly, she saw who she was looking for. He wore a pair of grey slacks with a lilac button down shirt and black italian loafers. As typical, his brown hair was slicked back with pomade, giving it a slightly unnatural sheen but it looked good for his style. He was reading a copy of The Economist that had been resting on a table in front of the armchair he had been sitting in. Diana rolled her eyes at the sight. It was so typical of him.

"Of course you'd be reading up on stocks and other current events," she remarked coyly as she walked up to him. The man took his head out of the magazine and looked up at Diana with a smile before standing up. "Otherwise I must say you don't look all that different from when I last saw you, Mr. Hanbridge."

Andrew chuckled lightly before shaking Diana's hand gently and smiling at her. "If we're going to comment on each other's dress than I must say you look absolutely stunning today, truly gorgeous." He looked up and down at the white strapless and sleeveless jumpsuit she had elected to wear along with matching white wedge shoes. It was the perfect outfit for the warm but not hot weather of spring, and it made her look very stylish and completely contemporary in her appearance. He found it more than acceptable. "I'm quite impressed."

"Are you trying to flirt with me?" Diana remarked with a suspicious glance. She didn't have patience for his games.

"Oh pardon me, Diana," he said as he stood up and walked toward the counter. "I seem to have forgotten that you and I are similar in more ways than one, especially because we both prefer the fairer sex."

Diana blushed and clenched her fists. She thought about slapping Andrew on the arm for his sassy remark, but she held back. Such a response would have been uncouth of her, no better than him calling her out on her sexuality in public, which she did not at all appreciate but she was willing to let slide. Andrew was one of the few people relatively close to her who knew about her sexual orientation. Remarkably she didn't have to tell him outright about it; he simply figured it out based on the longing way Diana talked about some of her friends in their prep school days. He generally was respectful of her wishes to keep her sexuality a secret. But his comment was deeply embarrassing to her, especially because it was in a coffee shop with more than enough people in earshot to hear his revelation. Still it was Andrew, a longtime family friend who she knew wasn't out to hurt her, just out to get under her skin.

The two respectively ordered their tea; Andrew his typical earl grey and her Darjeeling. He also ordered a scone for himself and a plate of biscuits for them to dunk in their tea. The two sat back in the chairs around the small table covered in magazines, which Andrew moved off to the side as the two waited for their tea. The two briefly conversed about the weather and a few other non serious matters before the tea and biscuits arrived and they began to talk about issues that were nearer and dearer to their hearts.

"So how has business been for you?" Diana questioned as she took a sip of her tea.

Andrew rolled his eyes at the question and took a biscuit from the plate before him. "It's is what it is," he replied. He dunked the biscuit in the tea and took a bite before taking a sip. "A bit boring and tedious but at least I can say it keeps me on the move." Diana nodded at the last statement. She knew Andrew's job kept him on the move quite a bit and she knew him as someone who could appreciate travel. She listened closely to the way he spoke."How about you? How are things in the world of opera?"

Diana sighed before taking a biscuit of her own. "I just finished up a six month stint with a company in Boston performing Mozart's _La Clemenza Di Tito_ ," she stated. "I'm sure you heard of it, have you not?"

"I can't say I have," Andrew replied as he took another biscuit. "It must be one of Mozart's lesser known operas."

"It is, but it's gained significant critical appeal in the past few decades," she explained. "So it no longer appears to have fallen out of favor the way it did in the past. Hence the long run with the company." She took a bite of her biscuit before sipping her tea. She loved the taste of Darjeeling. It truly was the champagne of teas as far as she was concerned. Nothing came even remotely close, and it was always able to calm her nerves. "My aunt arranged for me to be part of the performance."

Andrew nodded his head and took another sip of his tea. "How is your aunt by the way? Is she well?"

"I assume she's alright," Diana stated with a shrug of her shoulders. She took another bite of a biscuit she had dipped in her tea. "I don't see her unless she decides to check up on our estate here in Dartmouth, and I don't generally speak to her or my cousins unless they've set me up with another performance." Though she didn't show it in her voice Andrew could tell that Diana meant every word she said. He nodded his head in response.

"That seems rather harsh, doesn't it?" Andrew remarked as he took a bite of his scone.

"Well last I checked you and your father don't exactly have the best relationship either, now did you?" she retorted plainly, disinterested in the thought of engaging Andrew's question any further. She watched Andrew looked off with his eyes in a slanted manner toward the ceiling, as if ato say he wasn't necessarily amused with her retort but didn't necessarily find it wrong.

"Well lately I've been rebelling against him in some areas of my life," Andrew said with a smile. "I have taken up a love of fast cars that he doesn't necessarily approve of. I recently began a lease of a Porsche 911 to go with my 5 Series. Have you ever gone for a ride in a Porsche, Diana?"

"Can't say I have." She took another sip of her tea and relaxed further in the chair as the tea settled her down. "I'm not all that interested in cars to begin with so riding in something meant to be sporty doesn't necessarily appeal to me."

"That's a shame," Andrew said with a light shake of his head. "I don't suppose you also share my newfound love of hockey? I followed the Stanley Cup playoffs very closely this year and I must say, I've become quite enamored with the combination of grace and force that the sport is played with."

"And I'm sure you remember that sports don't appeal to me either," Diana remarked with a raised eyebrow. She wondered where Andrew was going with this. Something seemed very strange about the way he was posing all these facts to her.

"Well those two are hardly the most rebellious things that I've done to upset my father as of late," Andrew explained. "For you see, I seem to have taken up an unusual affinity for a new type of music." Diana raised her eyebrow further, wondering where Andrew was going with this. "Tell me Diana, what do you know about punk rock?"

Diana felt her eyebrows raise to her head and turned slightly away from Andrew. She didn't want to show him that the question made her increasingly uncomfortable and that she didn't know what to say. She also had no idea where the question was originating from and that also scared her slightly. "I can't say that I have any familiarity with the genre," she stated with a collected sip of her tea. "I wouldn't bother myself with such…" she began slightly nervously. He had begun to pry in ways she wasn't necessarily comfortable with. She looked up in a thinking pose to try to get the words. "Abrasive music. It's not to my liking."

"Is that so?" Andrew replied. He raised his teacup for another sip before reaching for his scone. "You know you should really consider coming to a punk rock show with me in the near future. I happen to know this one band that is more...interesting than your typical affair. I've grown to like them very much. Maybe you've heard of them. I believe they're called A Seed of Sorrow?"

Diana breathed in sharply but quietly and she leaned back in her seat. She lightly but readily apparent went to grip the edges of the armchair, looking slightly to the side with her eyebrows raised after the question was posed. Now she knew something was up. It was clear to her that there were ulterior motives to this meeting, even if she didn't know exactly what they were. It all made her highly uncomfortable, and her normally composed self couldn't help but show some displeasure and unease. She coiled herself into the back of her seat and gripped the edges of the chair. "I can't say I've heard of them," she blurted out quickly, clearly flustered by what Andrew had said to her. "And even if I did I'd never go see them."

"Really?" Andrew questioned curiously. "You've never heard of them? Then I'm sure what our mutual acquaintance told me about you attending one of their rehearsals is a fabrication, is it not?" Diana felt herself go slack jawed at the revelation. She watched Andrew set his scone down and take another sip of his tea. "You know it's okay to tell me, Diana. Your secret is safe."

Diana's jaw dropped in shock and she gasped, quickly putting her hand over her mouth before she let out anymore shocked noises. "How did you know that I attended one of their rehearsals?" she questioned. "It was supposed to be a private affair that would never get out to someone like you."

She stared him down with her icy gaze, trying like she did with Akko to squeeze an answer out. It wouldn't be nearly as simple knowing Andrew's skill with conversing and revealing emotions, not to mention how familiar he was with her given that they had known each other since childhood, but she had to try. But true to an expert conversationalist, Andrew didn't allow his face to betray any emotions whatsoever. He sat perfectly still and sipped from his cup of tea, not revealing anything to Diana. She scowled slightly at his display.

"I apologize for my rudeness," he stated as he set his teacup down onto a saucer that had been given to him with the cup. "But you see we have a mutual acquaintance within the band, a certain Miss Atsuko Kagari. You might know her better as Akko, I believe?"

Diana felt her eyebrows go to the top of her head, now clearly showing her shock at what the situation that had unraveled before her. "You're telling me that you know that Japanese girl?" Diana questioned curiously.

"More than that," he declared. "I'd go so far as to call Miss Kagari one of my closest friends." He took another sip of his tea as a pause before continuing on with his revelations. "She told me you attended one of her rehearsals after you were so rude to her back at her workplace. May I ask what prompted that?"

Diana scoffed and folded her arms. She was not in the mood to be scolded by Andrew Hanbridge in the slightest. Her patience for this situation was wearing thin and she wanted nothing more than to leave, which she was considering as the conversation wore on. Nothing about this was pleasant to her. "She called me scared," Diana stated with contempt. Andrew raised his eyebrow while looking at her curiously from behind his cup of tea. "And I wasn't going to tolerate it."

"You got so flustered and felt the need to be so harsh because she called you scared?" Andrew questioned with a chuckle. He shook his head and nodded at her statement. "That's so unlike you, Diana, especially to call someone like her pathetic."

Diana scoffed at his response and crossed her arms, her face growing red with displeasure. Andrew's chuckling was beyond rude and was seriously throwing her off guard. "Well why should I care what I called her at the shop," she retorted, trying hard not to exclaim her words. "I apologized to her, attended her rehearsal, and that was that. The story is over. Nothing more will be said about it." She set her teacup down and grabbed her handbag before standing up to leave the coffee shop. "I appreciate you taking me out for tea, Andrew, but I'm not entertaining anymore questions about some pathetic punk rock band that I just happened to attend a rehearsal for."

"You're so quick to pass judgements upon others whom you don't even know," he said with a tsk and a shake of his head. Diana raised her eyebrows and scowled at him. Who was he to say these things to her? "I thought you were better than that."

"You have no right to talk down to me," she hissed back, trying her best to stay quiet and composed in the coffee shop even though she was emotionally flustered. She would never let herself get overly emotional under any circumstances, especially over something like this. But he had gotten massively under her skin.

"Sit down, Diana," he demanded politely. He took another biscuit and dunked it in his tea. "You're causing a scene."

Diana gritted her teeth and begrudgingly sat down, taking agreement with his statement that she probably was causing a scene in the coffee shop by this point. She hated the thought of that, but she couldn't stand the idea that she was being questioned over something so inane and what amounted so far to a one time occurrence. She had no patience for entertaining anything more than she had already entertained, and was only sitting down because she didn't want to make a bigger production out of this than she already had. "I don't know what Miss Kagari told you but I don't intend on attending anymore rehearsals for a band that appears to be stuck in the basement of a run down house in New Bedford."

"You think they're just some small time outfit playing in a basement?" Andrew chuckled. He shook his head and took a bite of his biscuit, swallowing before speaking. "If only you knew half of what she's accomplished with that band, Diana."

"Oh?" Diana muttered curiously. She raised her eyebrow and took a biscuit of her own to munch on. "Just what has she accomplished, exactly?" She listened closely to what Andrew had to say as she went back to drinking what was left of her tea. She thought about asking for a refill but wanted to hear what Andrew out before she got anymore of her favorite beverage.

"Oh not much," he stated with a plain look on his face. "Not much at all except put out two critically acclaimed albums in their genre, toured with some of the most important bands in their genre, and played everywhere from all over North and South America, eighteen different European countries, Australia, Japan, and even India. But those are but small time feats I suppose for as accomplished as you." He said the last bit with a hint of smugness that made Diana scowl. But once she processed just what he had said she raised her eyebrows to her forehead again.

"Are you serious?" she questioned in surprise. "You mean to tell me she's done all of that?"

"Indeed she has. Not bad for an outfit rehearsing in the basement of a rental property in New Bedford, isn't it?" he remarked coyly. Diana nodded her head impressed. She had no idea that Akko and her band had achieved such heights. It made her immediately think differently about just what Akko had done with herself. "They just happen to be in a bit of a rut as of late because they are without a singer."

Now it made perfect sense as to why Akko had asked her if she was going to attend another rehearsal, and why she was so adamant for an answer from her. Diana couldn't believe she didn't see it clearly a few nights ago. "So that's why Akko invited me," she stated. She nodded her head as her understanding of the situation became clearer. "She thought I could fill the void her band has."

"And based off of what she told me you more than filled it at the rehearsal," Andrew explained. "She saw your talent and how effortlessly you seemed to fit in, but she wasn't confident that you would come back again."

Now her meeting with Andrew made even more sense. Diana chided herself on the inside for not expecting this. "So she reached out to you to try to get me to come back?"

"Well at the very least to get you to come to another rehearsal," Andrew stated plainly. "I told her I couldn't guarantee anything further. Though if I am totally honest I think SOS would be a good fit for you, Diana."

Diana scoffed at his statement and crossed her arms again. "Who are you to tell me what is good for me, Andrew?" she shot back. "You are in no place to do such."

"Perhaps I'm not. But what I can tell is from the way you described your time in Boston is that your role in opera has grown rather tiresome," he stated casually as he took a sip of his tea. "Perhaps you need a change of pace, something different to sate your musical appetite. And maybe A Seed of Sorrow can be that change of pace."

Diana furrowed her brow and looked away from Andrew. She couldn't believe she was entertaining such foolish assertions on his part. Tiresome of opera? It was her whole life; the thing she had been born into and groomed since childhood to partake in. Who was he to say she was growing bored of it? What kind of ridiculous assertion was that?

And yet, it rang somewhat true. She remembered how happy when La Clemenza's run was finished and how badly she wanted to take a break. No, she thought. She wanted to take a true hiatus from opera until she had the desire to take the stage again as a soprano. But she felt doing nothing but spending time alone and hanging out with Hannah and Barbara would be a seriously unproductive use of her schedule. She leaned her chin on her hand and looked out the window of Mulberry House longingly.

She had a choice to make that she wasn't sure she was ready for.

* * *

"So we're back to square one now, huh?" Amanda remarked. She made some adjustments to her Peavey head, trying hard to unlock the best tone out of the amplifier as possible. "No luck on Diana coming back?"

"Diana who?" Akko muttered as she finished tuning her guitar. "I don't remember any Diana we associated with."

Amanda raised her eyebrow and tilted her head. "Seriously, Akko?" she replied. She turned to face her bandmate. "What's your deal?"

Akko huffed before turning back over to Amanda with her shoulders raised. Lotte and Sucy looked on at the scene unfolding. They were both curious as to what was going to happen. "Look guys, doing that one rehearsal with Diana was great and all, but she's not coming back. And frankly, I don't care what she does by this point."

"And you're so sure of this why?" Sucy asked. She wanted to know where Akko was going with her statement.

"Because she wouldn't commit coming to another rehearsal no matter what I tried," Akko stated. She shrugged her shoulders and looked up slanted toward the ceiling. "Look guys, it's not a big deal. I'll just sing everything by myself. We don't need her help."

"Well that's a real shame considering I just came back to this dreadful place," a familiar voice said.

Akko raised her eyebrows and felt her jaw drop at the statement. She turned around and looked up at the stairwell to see none other than Diana Cavendish, clad in her white strapless jumpsuit revealing her shoulders and collar standing against the railing on the steps. Akko looked at her and gasped slightly. She was mildly awestruck by just how good Diana looked in the jumpsuit, but she didn't forget how upset she was at the blonde earlier. So she clenched her fists and waved one at the blonde.

"Oh so you came back just to diss our rehearsal space now did you?" Akko shot back with a wave of her fist. "Well if that's what you want to do than fuck off!" She threw up a middle finger to emphasize her assertion. "We don't need your help or your snide attitude."

Diana shook her head and rubbed her temples. "If you think I came here just to mock you you are sadly mistaken," she stated. "In fact, I'm here to tell you I want to join your en..." She caught herself before she could say more. "Band. That's right, I want to join your band."

Lotte, Sucy, and Amanda All felt their jaws drop and looked at each other with wide eyes. She wanted to join A Seed of Sorrow? They would no longer be without a singer. And not only that, but they would have a singer who they rehearsed wonderfully with? That seemed too good to be true. But then they remembered something critical.

Akko had to put her stamp on the matter, and none of them were certain that she would.

Akko looked up at Diana with a raised eyebrow and a suspicious visage. She stared directly into Diana's gaze, taking on her icy stare all again as her eyes were kept firmly on Diana's face. She looked closely for any signs that she was faking it, that Diana was less than sincere. But no matter how hard she looked, there was nothing to indicate a lack of sincerity. Diana was 100 percent genuine.

"You know there's a lot more you'll have to do if you want to join the band," Akko declared sharply. "You can't just walk in here and expect to be a part of it."

"Akko…" Sucy seethed. She couldn't believe her friend was being so ostentatious.

Akko picked up on Sucy's irritation and turned to her bandmate's. "I'm not asking for anything crazy," Akko stated calmly. "But while we all know how you did rehearsing with us, I think it's only fair to see how you would perform live before we make any considerations on if you can join the band."

Diana became light red in her face and clenched her fists while gritting her teeth. The girls could tell that they had said something that clearly irked the blonde, which Akko didn't mind. Diana still wasn't entirely in her good graces just yet. "You can't be serious," Diana retorted. "I'm here ready to join and you're going to test me?"

"Actually it's not a bad idea," Amanda said. She scratched her chin thinking about it. "It wouldn't hurt to see how she handles a bunch of rowdy punks stage diving all over the place, not to mention how the crowds would respond to her in general."

"I don't see why that's a problem either," Lotte said with a shrug of her shoulders from behind her drum set. "I actually think it's more than fair."

"I guess I'm going along with this plan too, huh?" Sucy remarked with a roll of her eyes. She picked up her bass's neck and went over to her amplifier. "Sure, if that's what you want to do, go ahead. I'll stand behind all of you."

Akko smirked at the fact that her friends were onboard with her plan before turning back to Diana. The blonde had a look on her face that showed she was clearly taken aback by what Akko had said. Nevertheless she composed herself quickly and walked down the stairs toward the microphone she had stood at before. Akko went and got her annotated lyrics for "Ruiner" and "Mute Print" while Sucy again passed her the headphones. Once she slipped them on and Akko handed her the "Ruiner" notebook.

"What song shall we do first?" the blonde questioned as she flipped through the staff sheets. "You go ahead and pick, Akko."

"Song number nine on 'Ruiner' it is then," Akko said with a shit eating grin. She held up the neck of her Les Paul and adjusted her microphone.

She watched Diana raise her eyebrow as she flipped through the pages and reach song nine, at which point Diana scowled and furrowed her brow. "Really?" she questioned exasperatedly. "We have to do this one first? Is this necessary?"

"You said we could do whatever song I wanted," Akko replied whimsically, twirling her hair with an absolutely shit eating grin.

"Ugh," Diana groaned. Akko was so ridiculous.

She straightened the headphones on her head and held up the lyrics before warming up her voice and turning back to the song. It was her least favorite from the previous night.

It was called "The Kids Can Eat A Bag Of Dicks".


	5. Taking The Stage

**AN: I'm back from vacation and found time within my busy schedule to write another chapter! The new job is going great and I've decided to celebrate it by finding the way to get this chapter out. My beta reader also was a big help in getting this chapter out, and I want to thank her for working with my busy schedule.**

 **One A Wilhelm Scream song appears in this chapter. It's called "The Rip" and I highly recommend giving it a listen.**

 **I also give a shout out in this chapter to the awesome Massachusetts hardcore punk band Crafter in this chapter, and I highly recommend you check them out.**

 **Next chapter should becoming in the next few weeks! Thank you for all the critiques and support. Keep them coming!**

 **Kind Regards,  
Symbiotic**

* * *

Over the course of the next two and a half weeks A Seed of Sorrow would go from gathering every few nights to practicing every single day for several hours at a time in their rehearsal space. They would spend each day alternating between the two albums they recorded, "Mute Print" and "Ruiner", playing each one all the way through straight through while pausing to work on individual parts of songs that needed to be hammered out. Normally in such rehearsals the members would inevitably get sidetracked and would take turns cracking a drink or two before continuing on, but with Diana in the room it remarkably remained all business and not much extraneous activity. Lotte and Sucy in particular welcomed the way that their rehearsals seemed to tighten up massively, not that they weren't tight when they had their old singer or were singer-less but now the rehearsals seemed to coalesce in ways that the two rhythm section members didn't think were possible. Even Amanda, who normally was the one having the most fun at rehearsals and breaking them up with witty banter and a need to drink a beer while they were playing, found herself almost completely locked into the songs and playing tighter than she could remember. Though there wasn't much fun involved, she could appreciate the sense of professionalism that were now brought to their rehearsals.

If anyone was bothered by this it was Akko, who had long taken a liking to the fact that rehearsals were kind of loose and whimsical. She felt stuffy rehearsals inhibited her creativity. Diana wasn't necessarily sucking the air out of the room, but it was almost like she was coalescing it into a very tight space that limited her access to it. She didn't understand or appreciate why it was happening this way. Was it just because Diana was that good that everyone was trying so hard? Or was it that Diana just wasn't a good fit and the band members weren't reacting to her well. Akko couldn't quite get a bead on it and that made her nervous. She didn't like not understanding the dynamics between the members of A Seed of Sorrow.

Even still she was pleased with just how good they were playing. Even when they had their old singer Akko never recalled the band playing this tight. A Seed of Sorrow was more technical and musically adventurous than most punk rock bands. Their musicianship had more in common with heavy metal bands than other punk rock and hardcore bands that they typically played alongside. And to see musicians who she respected so much, especially Amanda and Sucy, playing with such precision as they were in these practices made her excited about the way things were going to go for the band. She had news to break to them that she couldn't wait to share.

They had just finished up another run of "Brand New Me, Same Shitty You" when Akko decided to call a break. Akko, Sucy, and Amanda all set their instruments up against their amps while Lotte put her drumsticks down against her throne. Akko watched Diana take the headphones off her ears and shake herself lightly, her blonde locks flapping back and forth under the fluorescent tube lighting of the basement. Akko stared briefly at the way Diana's hair moved. It was like watching beautiful wheat flowing in a gentle breeze. She took it in briefly before she realized she was gawking probably longer than she was welcome to.

"Great work so far, guys," she said happily. She reached down and opened up a bottle of Blue Moon and took a sip before setting it down on her Mesa cabinet. "We sound awesome."

"We do sound pretty good," Sucy said with a nod of her head as she took a sip of her own beer. "I'm kinda impressed if I'm honest."

"Not bad for a punk rock band with an opera singer eh, Princess?" Amanda remarked as she took a sip of her own beer.

Akko turned to Diana, who had her brow furrowed at the redhead with her hands on her hips. Akko smiled lightly. She didn't mind that Amanda was poking fun at Diana. It was all part of being in a band and she felt Diana ought to get used to it or she wouldn't stick around for very long. "I suppose we sound acceptable," Diana stated. "Then again this is my first experience with this genre of music so I wouldn't be the best barometer to judge yourselves by."

"Ah nonsense, Princess, we sound pretty damn good with you behind the mic," Amanda said with a jab at Diana's shoulder. The blonde shot a scowled glance at the redhead while rubbing her shoulder, not amused in the slightest with the punch she was dealt. "At least I think so. Akko, what do you think?"

Akko felt her face go slightly rosy before crossing her arms and letting out a huff. She didn't want to give anything away that would make Diana feel too comfortable, even if Amanda was right. "I guess we sound pretty good," she stated. "But it's not live, so we'll have to see before we make any decisions."

"Speaking of which, Akko, what about playing live?" Sucy questioned curiously as she leaned up against her Ampeg cabinet. "You keep saying we need to get back up on the stage to see what Diana's capable of, but we haven't played anywhere but Amanda's basement."

A large smile came across Akko's face along with a confident glimmer in her eyes. She raised up her hands in a fist. "I was just about to get to that," she declared proudly. The other girls looked at her with raised eyebrows and listened closely. "It just so happens I was able to arrange us a short tour for this weekend so we can finally see what Diana is capable of!"

"You what?" Amanda exclaimed, shocked at what her bandmate had done. "You just arranged a tour without us?" She threw her hands up in the air and stared down Akko with a clenched fist. "Akko, what's wrong with you?"

Akko scoffed at her bandmate's reaction and raised a fist of her own. She couldn't believe she was receiving such a reaction when she was just trying to advance things forward. "I'm just trying to get us back out on the road," Akko shot back. "When have you been arranging dates for us all this time?"

Sucy watched the exchange between Akko and the redhead unfold. This was highly typical of the two guitarists, who were both stubborn and had loud voices that often tries to match each other in volume. She watched the argument unfold before turning back to Diana, who looked on at the exchange with a somewhat confused look on her face. "So you know, Diana, this is very typical of Akko," Sucy explained with a shake of her head. "She once arranged a ten date European tour and then had us on a plane three days later." The Japanese girl turned around and gritted her teeth at the puce haired bassist. Akko however did not appreciate Sucy's remark.

"Hey that was one time and it ended up being a killer run!" Akko called out. She didn't have any patience to be questioned about her decisions or her scheduling habits. "I've been working on these dates ever since Diana started coming to rehearsals."

"So where the hell are we going then, Akko 'I arrange tours at the eleventh hour' Kagari," Amanda mockingly came back with. Akko gritted her teeth and growled. She thought her bandmates would be more receptive to her news. Instead they seemed like they weren't interested in going on tour.

Akko turned to the rest of them. "Come on guys, it's only three dates and they're all within an eight hour drive. It's not like we're going cross country or anything."

"Where exactly are we playing, Akko?" Lotte spoke up. Akko turned back to her drummer and smirked. She had almost forgotten the bespectacled Finn was still present in the room.

"First date is Friday at the Brighton Music Hall. Then Saturday we hit the road and play Stafford Palace, and then Sunday night we head to Philly and play Milkboy's," Akko explained. "So it's not too long and we're not going too far. I just figured it would be a good way to get back out, stir up some interest, and show Diana what punk rock shows are all about, especially when we're headlining all three gigs."

Amanda, Sucy, and Lotte shrugged their shoulders. They thought about it for a brief moment and realized the plan wasn't all that necessarily objectionable. Lotte and Sucy figured it would be a good idea to test Diana out in relatively small to midsize venues before they went out to festivals and gigs outside of the United States. Amanda agreed, especially because they were going to Philadelphia, which was one of her favorite cities to visit and play in. Eventually the remaining instrumentalists of A Seed of Sorrow conceded to Akko that the tour was in their best interest, and that they were looking forward to getting back out on the road again.

"So that leaves you, Princess," Amanda remarked with a snicker. "You gonna hit the road with us or what?"

The four women watched as Diana scoffed at Amanda's insulting nickname and looked down at the floor with her arms crossed, an angry look strewn across her face. Akko could tell that Diana was still upset that she was being tested, but she knew it was for the best. She really hoped that Diana would go along with this, though she admittedly was preparing herself for the opera singer to say no. Much to her relief though she watched Diana sigh and look back up at Akko with her typical icy stare, though this time it seemed more gentle and even a bit calm compared to when she typically looked Akko down.

"I suppose I best get packed up for this weekend?" Diana sighed with a light smile. Akko pumped her fist lightly at Diana's declaration. Even if she was minorly irritated that the blonde appeared to be sucking the life out of the rehearsals, she was excited to see how she did in the live setting. Maybe the opera singer would handle things right. Maybe Akko wouldn't be disappointed and maybe things would go perfect. Maybe this gamble actually had the potential to pay off.

* * *

The Friday of the show arrived and Diana couldn't have felt a greater mix of emotions. It was as if every feeling that could possibly take up residence in her heart, head, and gut went about doing such. And she didn't necessarily like the feelings. Actually she didn't like them at all, and did her best to shut them up.

On one hand she was actually excited to finally go out and perform. From what Andrew had told her A Seed of Sorrow had the potential to be a draw within the modern punk rock genre, so she would get to play in front of what had the potential to be a relatively sizable crowd. She had never been to a punk rock show but always assumed that the genre didn't have a great draw rate, but if A Seed of Sorrow was as popular in their genre as Andrew claimed then she should be playing in front of a large crowd, which would make the performance interesting.

But on the other side of the same coin that made her nervous. What if SOS really did create a big draw? How would she react to the crowd? And what would they be like? Would they be calm and measured like the crowds she was used to performing in front of? And what was this stage diving that Amanda had described?

Diana also had a predicament she didn't foresee. She didn't know what to wear. Akko explained to her that punk rock didn't necessarily have a true dress code of what was acceptable to wear and what wasn't. All she told her was that it was not nearly as formalized as opera, so none of the dressed she wore on stage for her performances would be required. Diana didn't have many t-shirts to her name, and even fewer pairs of shorts or skirts that weren't more dress oriented and less fit for casual wear, so she was confused as to just what she was supposed to wear that she didn't fear messing up. And it wasn't like performing naked on the stage was an option, not that she really considered doing that anyway.

As she searched through her walk in closet, Diana picked out a few different clothing pieces to wear. She took two short sleeved tops and shorter skirts with some flats. For the show tonight she decided to pick out a pair of acid washed jeans and a grey sleeveless top with sequins around the collar line. But she still needed something more. She pulled out her smartphone and through a search for images of punk rockers into Google and pulled up some images. While she was not at all prepared to find the kind of outfits she did see, she noticed she did have two things common in the photos; a black leather jacket and some black boots, though the boots were riding boots and not the typical military-esque steel toed variety. She pulled them out of her closet and packed them away in her suitcase along with the rest of her belongings. Once she was done she left her house and went back to Amanda's property.

When she got there she found the rest of SOS's members loading up their gear into an old GMC conversion van sitting in the driveway. The van was bronze colored but was clearly fading under the sunlight, having seen better days. On top of that there were rusty patches that dotted the wheel wells and some of the side trim, which was coming off in various sections. Diana raised her eyebrow at the sight of the vehicle.

She watched as Akko caught sight of her getting out of the Range Rover and walk up to the van. "What's this?" Diana questioned.

She looked on as Akko smirked and set down a case before tapping her hand on the side of the van. "Diana, meet 'Old Unreliable'," the Japanese girl remarked coyly. Akko tapped her hand on the side of the van twice, eliciting a hollow sounding tone from the panel. "She's the official band van of A Seed of Sorrow."

"'Old Unreliable'?" Diana said. She was highly confused and even more put off by the nickname. "Why would you ever name your only means of transportation 'Old Unreliable'?"

"Because," Akko said as she leaned up against the van. "We bought her as a piece of crap and sometimes she still acts like a piece of crap." Diana was perplexed that Akko kept referring to the van as a she. She personally wouldn't have referred to the van as an "it" rather than a she.

"So this is how you get around?" Diana questioned as she looked up and down at the van.

"We're not exactly Green Day over here, Princess," Amanda explained as she hauled her amplifier cabinet into the back of the van. "We can't really afford to do much better."

Diana furrowed her brow at the crass moniker before she glanced at the van with a look on her face that was simultaneously curious, disgusted, and horrified at the nickname and the condition that the van appeared to be in. Everything about it made her question whether the vehicle was even safe to drive across New Bedford, much less drive to wherever the gig they were playing was. She didn't even want to know what it was like on the inside.

She watched as the rest of her bandmates loaded up their gear into the back of the 'Old Unreliable', one case at a time. The first thing they put in the back where the amplifier cabinets, as those were the largest pieces of gear and would take up the most room. They followed that up with cases filled with Lotte's drums, drum racks, cymbals, and cymbal stands. Then came the amplifier heads and last came the guitar and bass cases along with the suitcases suitcases, which were loaded up toward the door of the van. Diana went to offer to help, but the rest of the women seemed to have no trouble loading the van without her and she figured it was best if she didn't interfere. It wasn't like she knew anything about packing that would make her much of a help anyway.

After the van was packed up and the rear was latched shut, Akko waved for Diana to take her place inside the van. Diana walked over to the open door of the van and stepped inside. Immediately when she got inside she was greeted with a sight that was only mildly better than what she feared. The inside of the van was inevitably dirty, with fragments of dirt, dust, and pine needles covering the floor. There was numerous pieces of garbage scattered throughout, though thankfully most of them weren't food related and mostly old flyers to previous shows and magazines like Guitar World and Modern Drummer. But the thing Diana found most repulsive were the numerous cans and bottles of beer, water, and energy drinks that were scattered about the van, and were in the rear center seat she was forced to sit in next to Amanda and Lotte. Lotte took some time to brush the cans onto the floor, which only made a large off colored stain on the seat more apparent to Diana. She swallowed and held her hand over her mouth at the sight. Whatever caused that stain was absolutely repulsive.

Amanda saw how grossed out Diana was took a moment to get another snide comment in. "Not as nice as your piece of shit Range Rover now isn't it, Princess?" the redhead snickered as she buckled her seatbelt. Diana looked away from Amanda in disgust. She was growing very weary of the redhead's constant taunting.

"Hey!" Akko began as she took her seat up in the front of the van sitting next to Sucy, who elected to pilot the van to the gig. "'Old Unreliable' may have her warts on the outside, but she's no worse than any other band van on the inside!" Diana watched Akko cross her arms and scowl as she raised her own eyebrow. Akko sure was sensitive about anything that had to pertain to the band. Diana was surprised at just how sensitive she was, and how that sensitivity even applied to a van that was nicknamed 'Old Unreliable'.

Diana buckled her lap belt and then turned back to the Japanese girl. "I don't believe you told me where the concert we'll be performing at is," she stated calmly as she straightened herself out in the seat. "Where is this venue, Akko?"

Akko didn't say anything at first. Instead Diana watched her reach for an Ipod and scroll through a selection of songs. When she picked the one she was looking for Diana was greeted with the sound of a stringed ensemble breaking into a mandolin section before some drums came in. She raised her eyebrow again in curiosity before Sucy spoke up.

"I don't think she understands where you're going with the Dropkick Murphys song , Akko," Sucy said in her typical deadpan tone. Diana watched Akko huff and roll her eyes before she skipped through to a certain point in the song.

"I'm shipping up to Boston," a gruff pair of Irish sounding male voices sang. "I'm shipping up to find my way!"

Diana sighed and threw her head back in her seat. She couldn't believe only a few weeks after she had left the very city where she spent six months she was going back already. This was not at all what she expected.

* * *

Despite what had been said about the van being an unreliable piece of crap, 'Old Unreliable' made it to Boston without any issue whatsoever. The band made it to the venue in the late afternoon, a few hours before the show was scheduled to begin. Diana wondered why this was the case as it didn't really make any sense to turn up before anyone else got to Brighton Music Hall, but Akko made it clear that was all in the name of doing local bands a favor and getting a shot at a free drink or even a before the rest of the bands arrived. Diana raised her eyebrow at this proposition. Wasn't Akko and her band supposed to be appropriately compensated for these things?

The band stopped just behind the venue and met up with one of the show's promoters, whom Akko shook hands with and pointed back at the other members still in the van. The promoter nodded his head and opened up the backdoor to the venue and allowed the members of SOS to pour on inside the venue. Diana took the setting in as the band walked inside. It was a large multi floor structure, with an open upper and lower areas where spectators could stand. The stage was raised several feet off the ground. There was a long wooden bar running alongside. On the bar were boxes of pizza along with bottles of water and soft drinks along with the usual alcohol suspects. Venue employees were buzzing about the room, trying to make sure PA speakers were in proper place and the stage was prepared for the bands that we're going to be playing.

The first order of business that A Seed of Sorrow made for themselves after meeting with the show promoter and collecting their share of the ticket revenue was setting up their merch table. Akko had brought two whole boxes full of everything ranging from snapback hats and t shirts to CDs and stickers, along with a lock box for cash that was collected during the show. The table was set up near the bar and Diana helped lay out the merchandise in kind.

"So who watches all this?" Diana asked after she finished laying out the last of the t-shirts.

"You do, Princess," Amanda snickered.

Diana raised her eyebrows and looked over at Akko. She was the one who had to do this? It didn't seem to make any sense. "Why me?" she questioned confused.

"New members gotta pull their weight," Akko explained bluntly. "Plus you can watch the other bands from a safe distance and not get too caught up in the mosh pit."

"And you get to meet some of our fans," Lotte explained kindly. "It'd be a good way for you to get to know some people who come to our shows."

Diana raised her eyebrows again. She was still having trouble believing that she was the one who would be responsible handling the money and all the merchandise that A Seed of Sorrow was responsible for selling. And she had no idea what Akko meant when she said a "mosh pit". She was however interested in meeting some of A Seed of Sorrow's fanbase. She wondered how truly large their fanbase was based off of what Andrew had told them about how the band was lucky enough to travel all over the world. It would be interesting to meet just what kind of people took enjoyment to A Seed of Sorrow.

It wouldn't take long after the initial setup and the arrival of the other bands for Diana to find out. Once the hours went by and fans started pouring into the venue and congregating, buying beer and pizza while gathering in groups. Many of them were dressed in leather jackets, boots, and t shirts, and many more had numerous face piercings that Diana found both off putting and quite fascinating. And it didn't take long for some of these attendees to approach A Seed of Sorrow's merchandise table.

"I'm so glad they're back out on the road," one male fan dressed in a leather jacket with a page boy cap said. He ended up buying a pin which he placed upon his leather jacket alongside numerous other buttons. "These girls really know how to play."

Another fan, this one another young man with large earlobe gauges that almost extended down to their shoulders approached the booth and ended up buying a hat. "You their new merch girl?" he questioned. "I always thought Akko handled the merch."

"She's left me to handle the task this time," Diana replied plainly as she took his money and passed him the hat he wanted. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," the young man replied as he put the hat on. "What's good?"

"What do you think of A Seed of Sorrow?" Diana asked curiously.

"I fucking love 'em!" the young man replied with a grin from ear to ear. His exuberance made Diana lean back in her seat somewhat. "They're awesome."

Diana nodded her head and watched as the young man walked away toward the bar to grab a beverage. She shrugged her shoulders and figured it might have just been one fan who happened by chance to be excited. But as more and more fans came up to the merch table, both male and female though overwhelmingly male, Diana continued to get more similar responses. A lot of "fuck yeahs" and "they're rad", along with similar phrases that came up throughout the evening, which surprised her. Perhaps Andrew wasn't lying when he said their fanbase was so sizable. Maybe A Seed of Sorrow really was as popular in their genre as he claimed they were.

Perhaps most striking to Diana though were the way that that the crowds reacted to the other bands. For the bands that came on before hers, Diana found that the fans were remarkably calm for the most part. There were a few who decided to flail about like they were having a seizure of some kind, especially during the set of one particular band called Crafter, but for the most part they seemed fairly well behaved and merely bobbed their heads while holding up their beers to the sound of the music. It was a sight that was completely the opposite of the rowdy sort of crowd that Akko and Amanda had made the show out to be. She was certain she hadn't even seen a mosh pit even though Akko was said one was certain to occur, which made her shrug her shoulders in curiosity. This show was turning out a lot different and a lot more hospitable than she initially expected it to be.

Finally after about two hours of bands playing sets and moving their gear on and off the stage it was A Seed of Sorrow's turn to go perform. After Diana went out to the van to put the cash box out of the reach of anyone who would have tried to steal it she walked back up to the stage, where Akko and the rest of the band were making their final adjustments and doing their soundcheck before the performance began. Akko made sure that this time Diana didn't have to take part in the soundcheck, having set up the microphone that she was going to sing out of before she had even gotten back into the venue. Once the rest of the band had dialed in the tones from their amplifiers and Lotte was done setting up her drums Akko had everyone convene on the stage.

"Alright everybody," she said with a smile before she put her hand in. "Let's have a kick ass gig tonight okay?" Lotte, Sucy, and Amanda all put their hands in on top of Akko's while Diana stood back. Sucy nodded her head toward her and Diana reluctantly but somewhat confused put her hand into the pile and held it on top. "On three we kick ass. One, two, three!"

"Kick ass!" the four women exclaimed somewhat quietly. Diana remained silent, again unsure of just what she should be doing in this situation. Akko looked at her somewhat disappointed as she stood there, not moving her hand as she didn't understand what was going on. Akko looked at Diana as to say "what are you doing?". Diana felt a shade of pink come across her cheeks and she put her hand in.

"Kick ass," Diana muttered as she moved her hand away lightly. Akko smiled lightly and moved over to Diana's ear.

"You need to introduce us when we come on stage," she whispered. "Just come up with something. I think we all trust you not to let us down." Diana nodded her head back at Akko and muttered a "hmm" before she turned back to the front of the stage and walked up to her microphone. Akko, Sucy, and Amanda all took their places on the stage; Amanda and Sucy to Diana's right with Akko to her left. The two guitarists took their place in front of the microphones next to Diana.

Diana held onto the microphone and looked down that crowd. It was now much larger than it had been for any of the bands. Many of the fans she had seen buy merchandise from her earlier were now standing in front of the stage, along with many rows of people who were previously not at the show. Diana's eyes grew wide at the sheer number of people who had shown up. It was enough to pack the first floor of Brighton Music Hall, way more than she had ever expected. Andrew was right. A Seed of Sorrow was more popular in their genre than she had ever expected them to be. She thought they would be lucky to play in front of a crowd of fifty. Now they were playing in front of a crowd of easily over 150 people.

She actually felt herself growing slightly sweaty and a knot building up in her throat. She actually felt herself getting nervous for a performance for the first time in awhile. "Hello everyone," she said into the microphone. The crowd looked up at the stage and stared directly at her. Diana swallowed again. She couldn't believe she was actually getting this nervous. She had performed in front of crowds way larger than this. What was the big deal? "We are…" She paused, making Akko, Amanda, Sucy, and Lotte look over at her curiously. Diana felt all their gazes upon her. Without even thinking, she muttered the first thing that came to her mind. "We are A Seed of Sorrow...and we're from New Bedford, Massachusetts."

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Amanda smirked and shook her head as if to say 'Nice going'. Akko, Sucy, and Lotte shrugged their shoulders as if to say 'Good enough' before Lotte hit one of her cymbals three times and the song began. Akko started it with a melodic guitar riff that Amanda quickly repeated over, while Sucy followed up with the bass. After a brief series of kicks on her bass drum, Lotte guided the song into a mid paced melody that repeated the same riff over for about six bars. The whole time Amanda and Sucy banged their heads while Akko jumped with her guitar in circles. Diana raised her eyebrows at the sight. Was this what punk rockers did on stage?

And then her moment to enter the song began when all the instruments went silent.

 _Fuck genius. What's an artist?_  
 **Dead words devoid of meaning. Let's drop them.  
** _I know where they can go, but your neck is blocking the hole.  
_ **Let's start from zero.  
** _Now, listen close!_

 _This is a rip: "The scream that ignites the world?  
_ **We're slaves to radios. We're not worth shit to talk to.**  
 _This is the pen that won't cauterize the wound.  
_ **Whose plan to follow?**

 _It feels like your own.  
_ **It's an insult. You've fallen for it.  
** _It feels like your own.  
_ **It's your anthem, as jaded as its source.**

Diana once again took a brief moment to appreciate Akko's voice, the longing depth exuding off of each tone as she sung her lines. She still had questions for Akko that she was not sure if she should ask, namely just where that voice came from and how she was able to use it so well.

 _The anemic. The pale, the sullen._  
 **An album's evidence. I believed that shit.**  
 _Here, stuck in radios. No one's worth shit to talk to._  
 **These were my heroes.**  
 _Now they're all jokes!_

 _This is a rip. "The scream that ignites the world?"_  
 **We're slaves to radios. We're not worth shit to talk to.**  
 _This is the pen that won't cauterize the wound._  
 **Whose plan to follow?**

 _It feels like your own._  
 **It's an insult. You've fallen for it.**  
 _It feels like your own._  
 **It's your anthem, as jaded as its source.**

The song paused and went into a small breakdown, with Akko and Amanda each strumming two accentuated power chordsDiana took a deep breath while holding onto the microphone stand, trying to dig deep within for more emotion to put into her words. The crowd seemed to hang onto her words, holding up their hands with each line and seemingly singing the song in front of her before she could get the words out. It made her heart race and almost left her breathless, but she continued on with the words. She watched closely as Akko and Amanda stood close to their microphones.

 _ **The ceiling is waiting.**_

And then the song again sped up to a breakneck pace.

 ** _The ceiling is waiting!_**

At the moment before Diana was due to reenter the song she saw something out of the corner of her eye that she didn't anticipate. One of the spectators, a young man wearing a white t-shirt with a few tattoos on his arms had jumped up onto the stage and went to wrap his arm around her. Without thinking she ducked his arm and pushed him out of the way with one hand. With the push the young man seemed to fall into the audience. Diana held her breath when she realized what she had done, certain that he was going to crack his skull upon the floor. That was the last thing she wanted to be the defining memory from her first show with A Seed of Sorrow.

Much to her surprise however the crowd held their hands up, caught the young man, and began to move him amongst themselves. Diana's eyes shot open in surprise. It was a truly remarkable sight to behold. In that brief moment of time she had experienced so many things at once, and it almost made her forget to get back into the song.

 _ **And you follow like it mattered if you did.  
And it dropped you on your head  
Cuz you took yourself for granted.  
**Heartless and headstrong._  
 _Jump right over those bodies._  
 _Life's a race. It's an obstacle course_.

The song slowed down again. Diana again wanted to appreciate the vocal harmony between herself, Akko, and even Amanda, but she was unable to do so.

 _ **Hide, but you'll never have a choice when you go.  
They would have noticed you if they had known.  
**But you're fucked._

 _They'll only love you when you're gone,_  
 _or barely hanging on to all your organs and dignity_  
 _while you're rotting in hospitals._  
 _Don't believe it?_  
 **It's not your fault.**  
 _You're just worthless._  
 **You're one in a million!**  
 _Where is god?_  
 _The ornament, the holiday song_  
 _whored out on reading materials in latrines and porta-johns?_  
 _Don't believe this._  
 ** _You're not worthless._**  
 ** _It's us against millions_**  
 **and we can't take them all.**

Akko and Amanda held themselves in asserted positions against their microphones, letting the chords on their guitars ring out. Diana stood absolutely still and breathed in deeply, trying to put as much power as she could into the last line.

 _ **But we can take them on!**_

The song went into another breakdown with some palm muted power chords by Akko and Amanda, who headbanged along with Sucy. Lotte drummed a syncopated rhythm as the song ended. Diana remained still on the microphone, holding it tightly as she felt her blood rushing again. Again she tried to calm herself through deep breaths and some silent commands to herself to settle down. But nothing she could do, along with a quick entry in the form of a harmonized riff she had to begin the next song, could make herself calm down.


	6. What Is Expected

**AN: Wow, this one took awhile and is long! But a lot of things happened here so I felt like I had to get it all out.**

 **My new job has taken a big chunk of my time out of writing, but I'm entering the next phase of training which promises to be less strenuous and I'll be able to write more. Hopefully this next chapter will come quicker given that I won't be so damn wiped out at the end of each day.**

 **There are two songs by A Wilhelm Scream in this chapter and they appear in order. The first is called "The Soft Sell" and the second is "Less Bright Eyes, More Deicide". I highly recommend you give these songs a listen when you read over their parts in the chapter.**

 **Thank you for sticking around and I look forward to your critiques and support!**

 **Kind Regards,  
Symbiotic**

* * *

Ultimately the show for SOS went off without a hitch. They sounded better than anyone in the band could ever recall sounding, the crowd seemed to approve. There was raucous applause in between each song, a circle pit going on one of the songs they played, lot of headbanging, and a fair amount of stage diving. The crowd was fully engaged in the performance. They let their energy flow and took in the waves spirit and positivity that spread from the stage and out into the crowd. Despite their seemingly depressive name, A Seed of Sorrow filled the audience with joy during their entire performance. There was a real sense of elation amongst the crowd that night. And everyone felt it was a great performance. Except for Akko. She still had some trepidations over just how the performance went down.

After the show was over Akko and company took a minute to talk to some fans who had come up to the show, getting some hugs from longtime fans who they had befriended over the years from numerous shows and talk about how great they sounded. Akko took all of it in carefully, balancing out the adulation they had received from the audience with her own questions that she had about just how good the performance was. She herself was impressed with how good they sounded with Diana. It was better than they had sounded ever if Akko was completely honest with herself. They were unbelievably tight and their sound seemed to reach new heights that she wasn't sure the band was capable of reaching. She was greatly impressed by just what they had achieved on the stage tonight. It was more than she could have ever imagined.

But she was still nervous about inviting Diana into the band. Not at this moment, she resolved. Diana still had a ways to go before she would officially invited into A Seed of Sorrow. Akko wasn't about to let her life's work become so open to harm and failure this early in the game. Not yet. There was still a lot more that had to be done.

The band began to move their equipment back to the van and this time Akko was approached by Diana. "Do you need a hand?" the blonde questioned.

Akko looked at her with a raised eyebrow. It was not something that she at all expected to hear. "With loading up the van? We got it." Akko went to walk away but Diana gently stopped her.

"I'm serious, Akko," Diana stated. "I want to help. It's not fun being useless when the rest of you work so hard."

"You're not useless, Diana," Akko said with a shake of her head. "But really, we got this."

"There must be something I can do," Diana asserted. Akko sighed at how determined Diana was to help. She really didn't need it.

"Why don't you go pack up the merch and meet us over at Old Unreliable, okay?" Akko proposed.

"I can do that," Diana replied. Akko nodded at her and watched Diana walk away. She went to go pack up her amplifier head, cabinet, and small selection of effects pedals. While she was putting the pedals in a box she was approached by Sucy, who also was packing up her amplifier head and cabinet.

"So what did you think?" Sucy asked as she took her Ampeg head off its cabinet.

"Think about what?" Akko replied casually as she placed her pedals back in their case.

"You know damn well what I'm asking you, Akko," Sucy said firmly. "So answer my question. What did you think?"

Akko sighed heavily and sagged her shoulders before turning back to Sucy. She really didn't want to talk about how she felt, but Sucy seemed insistent on squeezing an answer out of her. "It was okay," she replied plainly. She reached up and went to put her Mesa head into its case before she answered. "I don't know," she replied glumly. She saw Sucy raise her eyebrow. "I'm not sure yet."

"You're not sure?" Sucy remarked with a hint of surprise in her voice. "Look, Akko, I don't know what you're seeing here that I'm not, but we sounded incredible out there and I…"

"I think we sounded incredible too, Sucy," Akko replied with a conceding tone in her voice. "We sounded better than I ever thought we would."

"As if all the rehearsals with Diana weren't indication enough," Sucy stated bluntly with a roll of her eyes. She picked up her amplifier head and placed it inside its case, which Akko followed suit with. "How long are you going to keep this up, Akko?"

"Sucy, I don't understand…" Akko began.

"You're going to drive her away before we ever have a chance to do anything significant," Sucy explained, a hastened tone coming off of the bassist's voice that Akko had seldom heard come off of her. Akko turned to her confused as to why she was speaking this way. "Look, I know this your band, Akko but I think you're dragging this out far more than it needs to be."

"I'm just doing what I think is best for the band," Akko said as she opened up her guitar case and set her Les Paul inside.

"Well maybe what's best for the band is for you to make a decision on what we're doing about Diana already," Sucy put bluntly. "I'm gonna be totally honest with you. If it were up to me, Akko, I would have let Diana into the band the first second after she said she wanted to join."

"I couldn't have done that, Sucy," Akko said as she picked up her guitar and amplifier cases and began to walk toward the exit of the venue. Sucy followed suit close behind her. "I need to see what she's all about first."

"You're being really ostentatious," Sucy said with another roll of her eyes. "What exactly does she have left to prove?"

"A lot, Sucy!" Akko shot back sharply as she turned back toward Sucy. She was sick of the way that Sucy was talking to her. It reminded her of the way her mom would talk to her before she started having some success with the band. Her mother used to always question her with a hint of trepidation in her voice, asking why Akko had to do the things she was doing and not just continue with her education like every other young woman who was continuing on with their life in the developed world. "There's a lot that Diana still has to prove."

Sucy sighed and looked up to the sky as her and Akko walked back out to the van where Lotte, Amanda, and Diana were waiting for them. Sucy stopped Akko with a gentle grasp on her shoulder and leaned into Akko's ear. "Just don't be surprised if this doesn't pan out because of your stalling, Akko." Akko rolled her eyes, she was no longer in the mood to hear Sucy's critiques of her plans anymore.

The two loaded up their instruments and amplifier heads before settling back down in 'Old Unreliable'. Sucy again agreed to pilot the van to their next destination and started the old van with a turn of the key. After cautiously backing up out of Brighton Music Hall's back parking lot, they made their way down Boston's streets and moved their way throughout the streets back toward the highway. For awhile all of them were silent. No music, no conversation. Everyone seemed mostly absorbed in their smartphones as Sucy drove the van along. The only one who didn't do anything was Diana, who Akko could tell was out of sorts in this whole environment. It was almost as if she was frozen and didn't know what to do, like she was in the company of aliens who had just abducted her and were taking her to another planet. Akko decided now she would break the silence.

"Can I put something on the Ipod guys or are we all going to sleep?" Akko questioned.

"I'm fine," Sucy said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"That's okay with me," Lotte replied casually.

"I'm not sleeping until we stop," Amanda stated with a stretch of her arms and shoulders before leaning back down in her seat. "Just don't play anything stupid, okay?"

"That means no Dr. Dre, Akko," Sucy stated plainly as she focused on the road. Akko crossed her arms and pouted. She actually had wanted to play something by Dr. Dre, specifically his song "Forgot About Dre" featuring Eminem, but that wasn't going to be possible now that Sucy and Amanda had issued their decrees. The Ipod was a band communal piece, and each member could request that something was or wasn't to be played as the members chose. Akko respected their wishes and moved through the lengthy list of artists and songs as she went to pick something else. It didn't take long for her to pick something that would entertain everyone in the van. Almost everyone.

"How about this one, guys," she said with a mischievous smirk. The rest of the members of A Seed of Sorrow looked at Akko with raised eyebrows as she pressed play. When they heard the sound of a clean electric guitar backed by a small drum beat that erupted into a heavily distorted power chord they all became acquainted with the song. Akko briefly paused the track and looked back at her bandmates.

"Oh shit, Propaghandi!" Amanda exclaimed with glee. She wrapped her arms around Diana's shoulder, making the blonde shrink back in her seat. "You gonna take this one, Akko?"

"I'll try," Akko said with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders. Sucy then nodded to Akko to play the song. As soon as she did the clean guitar part fell away and gave way to a heavy riff with rapid fire, pummeling drumming behind it. Akko, Lotte, Sucy, and Amanda all headbanged with the riff and the beat. And it was only when the song slowed down and went into a brief clean interlude that Akko cleared her throat and went to take the song for her own.

"Before you go to sing," Diana began. Akko raised her eyebrow and paused the Ipod. "Amanda mentioned something about not sleeping until we stop. Are we going to a hotel?"

Akko felt her mouth purse up and a snort come out through her nose. In a brief moment she began to laugh out loudly in the van. Before she knew it Lotte was chuckling and Amanda was laughing almost just as loud, slapping her knee in response. Sucy remained focused on the road, while Diana looked on confused.

"A hotel?" Akko gasped through her laughter. "You think we're staying at a hotel?!" She continued to laugh until tears began to fall from her face. She caught her breath with labored rises of her chest and wiped the tears off of her face. "Oh my gosh, you think we have the kind of money to stay at a hotel?"

"Well I just assumed that…" Diana began.

"Let me fill you in on what the plan is, Diana," Akko stated as she tried to calm down further from her laughter. "We're gonna pull into a truck stop sometime during the wee hours of the morning, get into a parking spot, shut the van off, and then go to sleep."

Akko watched Diana's eyebrows go as high as they possibly could go and her face turn whiter than it already could be. "We're going to sleep in the van? Are you serious?"

"She's dead serious, Princess," Amanda chortled as she calmed down from her own fits of laughter. "We're sleeping in the van whether you like it or not."

"But how will we shower?" Diana asked rather loudly and in a worried tone. "There's no way we can be expected to…"

"Truck stops have showers that you can use for free," Akko pointed out. "They kind of become your best friends on the road."

"You can't be serious," Diana questioned in disbelief. Akko raised her eyebrow at the blonde's protesting. "Please, let us think of an alternative. If it's necessary I could pay for a…"

"No you won't!" Akko shouted sharply. "You won't pay for anything!"

At that moment the van became so silent that a speck of dust could be heard dropping on the floor. The sound of the engine and the road noise were all that could be heard as the members of A Seed of Sorrow all sat in complete silence and looked at Diana and Akko. They could all see how Akko had become red in the face in an instant and how her shoulders had tightened up, rising up and down like pistons, and how her fists were clenched tightly. All of them knew that Diana had crossed a line that there had to be consequences.

"One of the cardinal rules of being in a band," Akko growled through gritted teeth. "We will never accept charity from someone else."

"But I…" Diana began.

"We won't accept it!" Akko shot back harshly. She watched as Diana coiled back into her seat and stayed absolutely still. Akko continued to hyperventilate until she turned back in her seat and Sucy rubbed her shoulder. Lotte and Amanda looked at Diana and the shocked look that they had on her face before turning away. Diana herself remained still. Akko didn't realize how much of an impression both her singing and her shouting had made upon the blonde woman.

* * *

It took her a little while to get used to. No, it took a long while to get used to. Diana could not recall any time in her life, both at her current age or in the past, where she ever slept in a stopped vehicle in a parking lot. Sure she had slept in the back of her chauffeur's limousine on long roadtrips in her homeland and when she first arrived in the United States, but she could never recall sleeping anywhere, not even a tour bus on her multi city tours, when a vehicle was stopped, much less a run down band van in the middle of Massachusetts at some random truck stop near the city of Worcester. She didn't think she would sleep the whole night, afraid of what would happen if someone at the truck stop broke into the van. Eventually she became so tired that she fell asleep, falling down in leaned up position against the back of the seat as she fell into a rather awkward but still fairly restful sleep. She wasn't sure how late it was when she fell asleep, but she knew it was well past one o'clock in the morning when she finally passed out.

Certainly the thoughts of Akko's voice helped her fall into a restful sleep. Even when Akko was singing highly abrasive and unmelodic punk rock vocals, she still sounded as amazing as ever when it came to her singing. That voice seemed to make Diana's heart swoon and it filled her head with more questions than answers every time it was engaged. For all the questions it posed in her mind though Akko's voice was a real source of comfort for Diana. She might not have been able to take the stage as easily as she could have if it was not for the fact she was certain she was going to hear Akko's voice both standing on her own and harmonizing with hers. It was all the comfort she needed on this strange adventure she was going on with Akko and her band.

Eventually the rest of the band members stirred awake and stretched themselves out before each saying good morning to one another. Each one went to the back of the van to grab their suitcase and then walked to the truck stop to take a shower, which Diana followed behind nervously. She had no idea what to expect, but she was pleasantly surprised to find the shower stalls in very good condition with no signs of grime or general dirtiness, aside from being somewhat old looking showers that clearly hadn't been changed out since the seventies. Akko let Diana get access to a stall first and she took a relatively blissful shower, though she was somewhat nervous about the fact that she didn't have sandals to stand upon.

When she was done Diana walked out into the truck stop and purchased herself a cup of tea from Starbucks before walking back over to the van. The rest of the members were gathered around the van drinking energy drinks and eating Tasty Cakes. Diana found the whole display a bit repulsive, but decided not to say anything about it. She did wish that her bandmates would eat something a bit more healthy.

"Morning, Princess," Amanda remarked as Diana walked back over to the van with her tea. "Got yourself a latte I see?"

"No actually," Diana retorted as she stood up against the van and sipped on her hot beverage. "But it is something clearly more healthy than all the sugar you're ingesting."

"Hey we gotta run somehow," Amanda replied with a shrug of her shoulders. She went back to chugging on her can of Monster in a manner that made Diana wince in disgust.

She felt herself tapped on the shoulder and turned around to see Akko holding up one of her glazed treats for Diana to eat. "You want one?"

"Oh," Diana muttered. She shook her head. "No thank you. I'm fine."

"You sure?" Akko questioned. "I'm only offering because we're probably not going to eat anything until we get to Stafford Palace later."

Akko seemed to make a very good point, enough to convince Diana at least, and the blonde proceeded to take the glazed vanilla treat for herself and began to munch on it. The cake was overtly sugary and made her fingers sticky, but there was nothing that Diana could find that was necessarily objectionable. She downed the cake with a few bites and then went turned back to the rest of the band members.

"So what's our plan for today," she asked while sipping on her tea.

Akko and Amanda looked at each other before they both looked back over at Lotte and Sucy. The bassist and drummer both shrugged their shoulders before the two guitarists turned back to Diana. The blonde singer raised her eyebrow curiously. What did they have up their sleeve?

"We're taking you shopping once we get to Stafford," Akko explained.

Diana raised her eyebrow. "Where would you be taking me shopping?" she questioned.

"A local Goodwill store," Amanda stated. "We gotta get you some gig worthy clothes."

"But I have plenty of clothes as it is," Diana said in a shocked tone. "Why in the world would I need second hand clothing just to be in the band?"

"It's not so much a matter of needing second hand clothing, but all of us would feel guilty if you ruined any of your good clothes while on tour with us," Akko explained. "Plus you'll get some stuff that you can just not give a damn about."

Diana sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She would just have to roll with this one for awhile.

* * *

The band took their time making their way to Stafford, which was only about an hour or so from Worcester, taking a chance to cruise at a moderate pace and listen to a wide variety of heavy music; everything from Metallica to Rancid to Rush and everything in between. Diana of course was completely unfamiliar with just about everything that they were playing, but she did find it striking that the members of A Seed of Sorrow listened to so many varieties of rock music. Perhaps it made sense given the unique nature of the music they played, but it definitely was more eclectic than perhaps she had guessed.

Sucy ended pulling the van into the parking lot of a large Goodwill location in downtown Stafford. The band members took their time to dismount the van before going inside to check out the store. When they first walked in Diana expected to walk toward the women's clothing section, but she was shocked when Akko instead pulled her toward the men's clothing section. Diana was utterly bewildered by this. Even when she saw Akko dress in shorts and t-shirts on stage she did not expect this to be happening to her in the slightest, not that she was fundamentally opposed to wearing men's clothes anyhow.

"Okay lets see here…" Akko began curiously. She went up to the rack and began to pick articles of clothing. Not long into picking through the rack she found something she liked, a blue and silver American football jersey. She went over and showed it to Diana. "Sports allegiance is never a bad thing to show on the stage."

"What is this?" Diana asked, holding the jersey up and looking at it front to back. The jersey had the number twelve written on it front and back and had stylized heads of what appeared to be Colonial Era minuteman on the side.

Curious as to why Diana sounded like she was protesting the jersey, Amanda poked her head out from the clothing rack and looked over at it. Her eyes went wide at Diana's confusion. "That's a Tom Brady jersey," Amanda explained. The gears began to turn in her head. "Wait a second, you don't know who Tom Brady is?" she asked with confusion.

"No I don't, thank you very much," Diana stated with a roll of her eyes. "And I don't think I could ever wear something like this to begin with."

"Oh so you're the picky type now are you, Princess?" Amanda remarked as she looked through the racks of clothing.

Diana actually found herself growling at the redhead who was trying to help her find clothing. She couldn't believe that she was being treated this way. "I'm not picky," she seethed in exasperation. "I just don't know why I would ever wear a jersey for a sport that I don't know anything about and don't really care for if I'm honest."

"If it's any solace I'm in your camp, Diana," Sucy stated plainly as she looked through the racks of clothing. "I can't do sports either. So I don't blame you if you don't want to wear a jersey."

Diana sighed in relief. "At least someone here is sensible," she muttered to herself.

She went back to following Akko closely as the Japanese girl continued to pick through the racks of clothing. The Japanese girl didn't take long before she uncovered something that was exactly what she was trying to find for Diana. It was a black hoodie with the letters "GB" on the side of the hood, a stylized picture of a smirking ape's head on the back, and the word's "start today" emblazoned on the front in odd rainbow colored letters. Akko beamed at the sight of the hooded sweatshirt, which she eagerly presented to Diana.

"Check this out, Diana!" Akko exclaimed giddily as she held the hoodie up in front of Diana. "Do you know what this?!"

Diana examined the hoodie closely before turning over to Akko with a raised eyebrow. "No, unfortunately, I can't say I know what it is."

"This is a Gorilla Biscuits hoodie!" Akko exclaimed. She was practically jumping up and down in front of Diana. "This is a piece of merch from one of the most legendary bands in the history of hardcore punk!"

"Okay…" Diana said slowly, unsure where Akko was going with this. "And the point is?"

"You gotta wear this on stage," Akko asserted as she threw the hoodie onto Diana, which the blonde caught in her hands. "Wearing a Gorilla Biscuits hoodie will get you major brownie points in the punk rock scene."

"Alright then," Diana muttered somewhat nervously. She then realized she had a question that she didn't think she'd ever ask in her life. "Akko, just what is a 'Gorilla Biscuit'?"

"It's a nickname for quaaludes," Akko stated plainly as she continued to rummage through the racks of clothing. Diana pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Of course it was a reference to something as vulgar as illegal drugs. It seemed like everything that Akko did in regards to her band had something to do with the grotesque and perverse.

Diana took the hoodie after Akko passed it to her and held onto it while the rest of the girls continued to sift through clothing. Curious, she sifted through the clothing herself looking for anything that she might find the least bit appealing. Surprisingly to her it didn't take all that long to find something she found mildly appealing. It was an acid washed denim vest, somewhat ragged around it's edges, though it appeared to be deliberately cut that way to give it a distressed look and not actually all that worn. She presented the vest to Akko, who promptly gave it a thumbs up.

"Denim is always acceptable in the punk rock scene," the Japanese girl stated with a smile. Diana shrugged her shoulders and put the vest over her shoulder before going back and looking through the racks of t shirts. Akko helped her pick out a few that would be acceptable; a Motörhead t-shirt, a Captain America t-shirt, and one from the women's section that Akko just thought looked spunky. Diana herself also picked out some ragged jeans, having understood what Akko was getting at when she said she wanted clothes that wouldn't matter if they got dirty.

Finally it came time to try some of the clothes on. Diana nervously walked into the dressing room and took her clothes before trying on combinations of clothes. She first decided to try on the women's top with jeans and the denim vest. Akko and the rest of the band members approved even more of this combination. But it was the last combination of the Motorhead t-shirt with ragged jeans and the Gorilla Biscuits hoodie that got the most approval.

"Oh shit!" Amanda exclaimed with wide eyes. "Look at you, Princess! You look like you just crawled out of CBGBs in the 1980s!"

"That actually looks really cool," Lotte said with a smile. "You'll look great up on stage in that outfit, Diana."

"You think so?" she said as she spun around to show her outfit from the back side.

"You definitely look like a punk rocker," Sucy stated with an approving nod of her head. "That outfit belongs on stage."

Akko was practically beaming at the sight of Diana in the outfit. "It's amazing," she cheered with glee. "It's absolutely amazing."

Amanda chuckled and put her hand on Akko's shoulder and smirked. "Hold up there," Amanda said. "While we all agree Princess looks pretty rad, we still gotta see how she puts those clothes to use on the stage. Am I right, Akko?"

Diana watched Akko shake herself and a serious look spread across her face. "You're right. There's still a lot of work to be done."

Diana sighed. It seemed like nothing she would do would completely impress Akko.

* * *

After their shopping excursion Sucy piloted "Old Unreliable" and the rest of SOS to Stafford Palace. The venue was an old movie theater that had since been converted into a concert hall, and was used by a wide variety of musicians ranging from small time country acts to rappers and of course many varieties of punk rock outfits. Tonight was another headlining gig for A Seed of Sorrow, the top band at a local punk and hardcore showcase that encompassed a variety of bands from the greater Connecticut and Massachusetts region. None of the bands they had played with last night were playing them tonight, but the gig promised to be another good one for the members of A Seed of Sorrow.

The gig went the same as the one the previous night as far as setup goes. Akko helped Diana set up the merchandise table and watched closely from the bar as Diana went about her business of handling cash and selling the band's merchandise. She paid close attention without trying to be too oblivious to her intentions. She stood closely next to Sucy at the far corner of the bar away from the merchandise table, where she carefully studied all of Diana's interactions with those who came up to the merchandise table while the other bands went about playing their short sets.

"I don't understand what you're looking for, Akko," Sucy remarked as she held onto her bottle of beer. "Are we supposed to be studying her like she was a new graduate from an etiquette school or something?"

"I just want to see what she's all about, Sucy," Akko retorted as she studied Diana closely.

"What does that even mean, Akko?" Sucy balked with a roll of her eyes. "Or are you just trying to justify putting Diana through the ringer like this?"

"I'm not justifying anything," Akko shot back sharply and with an almost lethal stare. "I'm just trying to see what she's all about."

She watched as the blonde gave a CD to one fan while briefly conversing with the fan about something else. Like every interaction Diana made with a fan Akko catalogued it in her memory closely. Everything was carefully noted.

Finally after a brief setup and a soundcheck it was time for A Seed of Sorrow to take the stage. They again did their routine "kickass on three" bout of encouragement, which Diana even took part in ablite rather stiffly, which made Akko gloom slightly. Diana went up onto the stage and introduced the band with the same introduction as the night before, which Akko actually found mildly amusing, and then they went into their first song.

Amanda and Akko both started the song with some heavy palm muted chords and bouts of tremolo picking on their guitars while Lotte followed up with a rapid syncopated series of rolls from her snare drum. This repeated for two bars before a small run of notes on the upper frets of their guitars before going into a gently picked, nuanced section that Diana began her entry into the song into.

 _No matter where we run, it's only a car-length away._  
 _ **No matter where we run, it's only a car-length away.**_

With a pick crape across a string from Amanda's guitar the song exploded again, going into a furious melodic section that held up the chorus of the track. Akko paid careful attention to Diana, who stood at the center of the stage in her black leather jacket and new Motorhead t shirt with her hands held on the microphone, remaining absolutely still.

 _This is the time_ , _**if it were up to me now.**  
This is the time_, _ **we can rise from the ground.  
** This is the time_, ** _hold onto me now._**

The song again slowed down and went into the gently picked section. Akko took her place up by the microphone, and watched as Diana stood up against hers with her two hands wrapped around it.   
  
_**No matter where we run, we'll do this til our legs will break.**_

 _This is the time **, _if it were up to me now._  
** This is the time_, ** _we can rise from the ground.  
_** _This is the time_ , _ **hold onto me now.**_

 _In a bed for liars, can we be true for once?_  
 ** _Am I the ruiner of you too much?_**

 ** _I am so fucking bored.  
I am so fucking bored._**

Akko paid careful note of the way Diana sang her lines. They were powerful for sure. And they were completely in time and in key, there was nothing wrong with that. But still she felt that something was off as she continued to sing, and Akko didn't like it.

 _And every second is an hour._  
 _What's a minute when you weren't counting it?_  
 ** _Cause every new day's a struck match, a falling out._**  
 _Now it's doctor's scripts and 666._  
 _It's a voodoo doll stabbing at the chest of the heartless._  
 ** _Can't you refrain from all that shit for now?_**

 _Give me the warmth of an island,_  
 ** _give me the sense of a want to go home._**  
 _Give me a loss due to damage,_  
 ** _give me the strength or the balls to be hated._**

 _ **I am so fucking bored.  
I am so fucking bored.  
I am so fucking bored.  
I am so fucking bored.**_

Again, Akko watched as Diana stayed still against the microphone, not moving in the slightest and appearing almost frozen.

 _No matter where we run, it's only a car-length away._

 _This is the time_ , ** _if it were up to me now._**  
 _This is the time_ , ** _ we can rise from the ground._**  
 _This is the time_ , ** _will you look to me now?  
_** This is the time, _ ** hold onto me now.**_

The song stopped and they quickly went into their next one after a brief pause. Akko continued to watch as Diana stayed still against the microphone. She shook her head through each song as she observed the blonde's actions on stage.

* * *

Diana stirred as she felt the sun get into her eyes. The light penetrating through her eyelids made her shake briefly from her position in the center seat of the van. She rose up and stretched her arms and yawned, looking briefly out the window as she saw a cityscape go by. She blinked as she watched the buildings of the city come into greater and greater view. Diana looked on at the scene closely.

"Morning, Princess," Amanda remarked coyly as she grabbed Diana by the shoulder. Diana ripped away but still invoked a snicker from the blonde. "Admiring The City of Brotherly Love I see?"

"The City of Brotherly Love?" Diana muttered with a raised eyebrow as she looked out the window.

"Yeah, it's what they call Philly," Amanda remarked as she leaned back in her seat. "Haven't you ever been here?"

"Can't say I have," Diana replied as she watched the buildings come closer and closer into view. "I haven't traveled all over the United States, just to select major cities for performances."

"Well I'm sure you'll love it here," Amanda snickered as she sat back in her seat. Diana rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat, watching the cityscape enveloped the van and they made their way into Philadelphia. Diana expected Sucy to take them right to the venue, but instead she watched as she pulled the van up to a large marble structure with massive columns and a staircase was made of equally bright marble. Diana looked at the building curiously, but then Lotte explained calmly that they were visiting the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which Akko had a unique affinity for. Diana nodded her head. That was a most interesting revelation about Akko.

"Lets race up the Rocky Steps," Amanda proposed eagerly. "Akko, I'll bet you a cheesesteak tonight at John's if you can beat me in a race up the steps."

Akko chuckled as the band disembarked the van and walked out into the streets. The spring air was a bit balmy and windy, almost like fall weather. Diana actually found herself going into the back of the van to get a hold of her Gorilla Biscuits hoodie, something she never thought she'd wear outside the confines of a venue, and slipped it on as they made their way toward the steps. It was on their way to the steps that Akko pulled Diana aside, letting the other women go by as she kept Diana at her side.

"Yes?" Diana began curiously.

Diana watched Akko breathe in deeply before she ultimately spoke up. "Diana," Akko began nervously. Diana raised her eyebrow at the tone of the Japanese girl's voice. "Diana, do you want to be here?"

Diana again raised her eyebrow, this time even further than she did before. "What do you mean 'do I want to be here'? Of course I want to be here, Akko. If I didn't want to be here I wouldn't be sleeping out of the back of a van subsisting off of tasty cakes, pizza, and Red Bull. Of course I want to be here."

"Well your performances don't show it," Akko retorted gently. She began to walk toward the steps of the museum before Diana began to walk after her.

"What are you talking about, Akko?" Diana asked as she caught up to the brunette. "What is that even supposed to mean?"

"Diana you stand like a freaking statue against the microphone every night and you seem like you can't wait for each show to be over with," Akko said as she walked forward, not even bothering to turn back to look at Diana. "You just look like you don't want to be here."

"Look, Akko," Diana huffed as she tried to catch up to the brunette. "This is all very new to me and I'm not sure what is expected of my conduct but I assure you that…"

"Diana, nothing is expected of you!" Akko shot back sharply. The blonde froze in her tracks as Akko stood in front of her and stared her down. "I just want you to show some emotion on stage, that's all."

Diana raised her eyebrow again. "Show some emotion?"

"Yeah like you know," Akko began. "Jump around on stage, get excited, do a power lean or something, ya know?"

"A power lean?" Diana muttered curiously. She watched Akko facepalm herself and shake her head, like she wasn't getting through to Diana no matter what she tried.

"Diana, you're an opera singer by trade, right?" Akko asked exasperatedly. Diana nodded her head slowly. "Look, I'm not asking for a performance in front of Carnegie Hall here, but I know that what you opera singers do best is show emotion on stage. So you think you could show some with A Seed of Sorrow instead of standing like a rock in front of the microphone every night?"

Diana stood absolutely still as the wind blew between her and Akko. Show some emotion on stage? Standing like a statue in front of the microphone? Who was Akko to tell her all this? She was doing everything that she was asked to do, and now Akko was demanding more out of her? This didn't seem fair, but as she thought about it more she began to piece together just what Akko was getting at. And the more she pieced it together the more she understood.

"Akko," Diana spoke up. The Japanese girl turned her head back toward Diana. "Can we change the setlist tonight? Just one song?"

Akko questioned why Diana would want to do this, but once Diana explained it to her the Japanese girl seemed to agree with the change and brought it up with the rest of the members of the band.

* * *

After a long day of chasing each other up the Rocky Steps, checking out the art museum, and slinking their way around Philadelphia for some sight seeing, the members of A Seed of Sorrow turned up at Milkboy's. Like the last show they let Diana handle all the merchandising and collecting the money, while they watched some of the local bands play live. Akko again kept note of all the reactions that Diana was getting from fans as she talked to them. She didn't know what to make of her exchange she had earlier with Diana, but at least she could catalogue her thoughts based off the way she interacted with fans.

Finally it came time for them to take the stage. Diana gave her brief introduction, before Akko stomped on her chorus pedal and went into a brief clean interlude section. She held onto the last note of the section briefly before shutting off her chorus pedal, making Lotte hit her snare drum a few times before her and Amanda went into a harmonized riff that repeated for several bars before they went into verses. And Akko watched before they went into the verses as Diana did something very interesting. She unscrewed the microphone from its stand and held it in her hands before nodding her head lightly, hardly enough to be considered a headbang but more than she had showed at previous shows. And then she did something Akko never expected.

 _Take the honest side._  
 _A gentleman would call it slanderous._  
 _It takes a man to cry, but I just put a brick through every bird's nest._

Akko watched as Diana not only leaned in toward the crowd from the stage, but actually held her hand in front her heart like she was full of anguish. And the way she had sang the last line of the verse seemed to seethe with a hateful anger that Akko never thought she would hear from Diana. Akko raised her eyebrows at the sight and felt her jaw drop. This was not what she had seen Diana do in any of the previous shows, and it made her take her place at her microphone with equal fury.

 _ **Take me out to the parking lot.**_  
 _ **I'm fine.**_  
 _Flattery is dead, romance is next._  
 _ **You never wanted to touch me when I was worthless.  
Get it while I'm sick with this.  
White knuckle grip on the world?**_

 ** _I'm losing it.  
I'm losing it.  
I tried to love you but I hate you all.  
I'm losing it all._**

 _Dreams are born to die._  
 _Squeaky wheels are supposed to rust._  
 _Hate and joy will vaporize._  
 _The numbers have been crunched._  
 _Yes, we're all fucked._

Once again Diana seethed with anger and hurt from her voice that Akko never saw her display, not even when they first sang together in rehearsal. And again it made her want to put her all into her parts as she took her place up against the microphone.

 ** _Take me out to the parking lot._**  
 ** _I'm fine._**  
 _Flattery is dead, romance is next._  
 _ **You never wanted to touch me when I was worthless.  
Get it while I'm sick with this.  
White knuckle grip on the world?**_

 _ **I'm losing it.  
I'm losing it.  
I tried to love you but I hate you all.  
I'm losing it all.**_

The song briefly went into a quick breakdown, and Akko looked over at Diana, who again was staring into the audience. But unlike the last few performances, where Diana seemed like she was trying to stare through the audience, Diana met them at eye level from a crouched position, like she was a fighter trying to take the audience on. It was almost intimidating to Akko, and she never expected to see it out of the blonde.

 **When half of this is real, I'll take lies.**  
 **My fault, you couldn't let me out on my own.**  
 _WHITE KNUCKLE GRIP ON THE WORLD?_

 ** _Well I'm losing it.  
I'm losing it.  
I tried to love you but I hate you all._**

With that the song ended, Akko again holding out the last note on her guitar before they again went into the next song, and Diana repeated just what she had done before.

* * *

John's Roast Pork was a small restaurant open twenty four hours a day on the outskirts of Philadelphia. It was a renowned and famous outlet for sandwiches, cola, and fries that seemed to speak right to the heart of the American palette. And it was here that the members of A Seed of Sorrow debarked from "Old Unreliable" to get a late night meal after their exhausting performance at Milkboy's. Each of the young women took delight in ordering a sandwich, though Diana herself had to be goaded by Akko and Amanda into ordering a cheesesteak, which she really didn't want to do but did because her bandmates were asking her to do so.

Once they had their sandwiches, fries, and cola all arranged the girls took their place at a counter top near the outside of the restaurant and sat down. Before they went to eat, Sucy raised a question that Diana did not initially expect but was rather eager to hear. "So, Akko," Sucy began as she took a bite of a french fry. "What did you think?'

"Think of what?" Akko said with her mouth full of cheese steak. Diana winced at the Japanese girl's rudeness, and winced again after Akko let out a burp after washing the cheesesteak with some cola.

"The tour, you idiot," Sucy remarked with a roll of her eyes. "What did you think of going out on tour with Diana?"

At that moment all the members of A Seed of Sorrow converged their eyes on both Akko and Diana, unsure of what was going to be said. They all watched as Akko set down her sandwich and let out a sigh, certain of what was going to come next. Diana felt her heart sink in her chest. She couldn't believe this was happening to her after all she had gone through with them over the past three days. She couldn't believe her tenure in the band was going to end like this.

"Diana," Akko said slowly. "This has been a lot of fun. And I want to ask to you one thing before we head out tonight." Diana raised her eyebrow and looked curiously at Akko. "Do you still want to be a member of A Seed of Sorrow?"

"Of course I do," Diana answered assuredly. "I absolutely want to be."

Akko nodded her head up and down as the members of her band looked her down, including Diana. She desperately wanted an answer, and she got it in the form of a smile that made her jaw drop.

"Welcome to the band then," Akko declared lightly with a gentle tap on the shoulder. Immediately Diana felt her heart race and a smile come across her face. She couldn't believe just what she was hearing. After all the times sleeping in the van, after Akko confronting her on the boring nature of her performances, she now was a member of the band? Diana did her best to remain composed, but couldn't help but chuckle a little bit and make Akko raise her eyebrow.

"I'm glad to be here," Diana said happily. The rest of the members took their turns to laugh before Akko reached over to pat Diana on the shoulder.

"We're glad to have you here. Now eat that damn cheesesteak before it goes cold," Akko ordered. Diana rolled her eyes and brought the greasy sandwich to her mouth, taking a bite of it and chewing before swallowing it down her throat.

It tasted far better than she ever imagined it could be.


	7. Finishing A Song

**AN: Awesome that I was able to get this chapter out faster than I have been. This one was a lot of fun to write as it includes some of my favorite songs by A Wilhelm Scream.  
**

 **The songs included in this chapter are listed in order of appearance: The Pool, Stab Stab Stab (an excerpt), and 5 to 9. I recommend all songs are listened to when they come up in the story.**

 **As a brief refresher as to how the vocal system I came up with works:**

 _Any lines in italics are sung by Diana  
_ **Any lines in bold are sung by Akko**  
Any lines underlined are sung by Amanda  
 _ **Any combination signifies a harmony.**_ _  
_

 **Please critique,comment, and thanks for the support!**

 **Kind Regards,  
Symbiotic**

* * *

Once again Akko found herself in her bedroom noodling around with her acoustic guitar. She strummed away at it while sitting on her bed, trying to let something come to her as she ran the pick over the strings. She was struggling, trying her hardest to find something as she sat around and held the guitar in her lap. But as was typical for Akko, songwriting never came easily and never came immediately to her. And that left her bitterly frustrated.

Akko thought she would benefit from a short break and set the guitar down before going to get off the bed. As soon as she threw her legs over the side the laptop she had on her lap began to chime off and bring up the notification of a skype call. Curious as to who could be calling, Akko turned her attention back to the laptop and sat cross legged on the bed before moving her finger over the button to answer the call, which came from her parents.

The window opened up to reveal her parents sitting on the couch of their living room. "Hi Mom and Dad!" Akko exclaimed happily.

"Akko!" her father exclaimed in kind. "So good to see your face again, and glad you had a chance to pick up and speak with your old man for a change."

Akko blushed a little and looked away bashfully. "I always have time for you and Mom, Dad. You two always come first."

"Even over your band?" her mother questioned coyly.

Akko chuckled at her mother's somewhat damning question. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," she stated. Akko and her parents erupted into a loud bout of laughter. Of course Akko would never put her parents completely ahead of A Seed of Sorrow, but they were the most important thing in her life outside the band itself. "Speaking of the band, guess what I did?"

"What's that, honey?" her mother asked curiously.

"I found us a new singer!" Akko exclaimed happily and with a pump of her fist. "Her name's Diana and she's freaking incredible. We just got done with a three date mini tour a few days ago and she sounded absolutely killer. She's kind of a stick in the mud but that's okay, I can totally work around that considering just how amazing she is." All of these declarations were accompanied by a fair bit of hand gesturing that showed Akko's parents just how excited their daughter was over what she had accomplished.

"That's great, my dear," her father replied happily. Akko smiled with glee. "But I do hope that this new singer hasn't interfered with your studies at all."

Akko groaned and felt herself frown at the fact that her father again brought up school, despite the fact that she had some important news to talk about with her band. The last thing she wanted to talk about was how she was falling behind on her studies again, which was a given considering all the work she put into her band lately when it came to rehearsals and playing the shows they played.

"I promise I am doing my best to keep up," Akko assured them. "I've still got the whole summer for classes and I think I did alright this semester all things considered."

"Just don't let this show business thing get much farther than it already has," her father cautioned. "Your mother and I think you have taken this as far as it can go."

Akko shook her head bewildered. "You want me to quit?" she said confused.

"What? No no no honey, we would never ask you to quit what makes you happy," her father came back with nervously. "We just…"

"Akko, you know we are just worried about you," her mother said gently. "You don't have a job that will let you build up any savings and your music isn't making you any real money like you told us. We think it would be best if maybe you put the music behind you for a bit and focused on your schooling."

Akko furrowed her brow sharply and clenched her fists. "I can't believe you two," she seethed. "Why can't you both just let me be me?"

"Akko, we're your parents and we're only concerned that…" her father began.

"Concerned about what? That I don't have any money? That I sink everything I got into A Seed of Sorrow? That I'll end up destitute her in America? That I can't handle myself?" she retorted loudly. "I've been living abroad on my own for years now! When will I stop being treated like a child?"

"You'll stop being treated like one when you put your priorities in order, Atsuko," her mother replied sharply. Akko gritted her teeth and pouted, looking away from the screen with disgust. "The show business thing can always be there for you, but we both think it's time that you change your tune on life, get with the rest of your generation, and pursue more impactful opportunities."

Akko crossed her arms and looked away from the screen. "I'll never be one of them," she huffed. "And nothing will convince me otherwise." Akko saw her father go to speak up but cut him off before he could say a word. "Coming back to Japan won't help. I'm happy where I am and I wouldn't change a thing." She paused before going on. "And stop calling it show business, Mom. It's a punk rock band. We're not the Spice Girls. In fact you know what I do with show business, Mom? I wipe my ass with show business, that's what." Her mother gasped at Akko's profane statement.

"Kagari Atsuko!" her father exclaimed in an angry tone. "That is no way to talk to your mother!"

Akko went to mutter something just as profane to her dad but stopped herself. All the time she had spent learning the art of negotiating and conversing with Andrew taught her that raising volume and using profanity was a surefire way to almost never get what she wanted. Reluctantly she sighed and turned back toward the screen with gentler eyes. "I'm sorry," she said remorsefully. "I just wish both of you understood how happy I am doing what I'm doing. I'm having the time of my life and every year it only gets bigger and better! I don't know what more I could want."

"Akko, look at me," her mother asked. She looked directly at her mother closely. "Your father and I are genuinely happy with what you have accomplished. You're a citizen of the world who gets to do what you love for a living, even if it's a small one."

"I'm going to be a citizen of the United States soon too, you know that?" Akko proclaimed proudly. "I've been working on my citizenship papers along with my schoolwork."

Her mother chuckled. "We couldn't be more than proud of you, Akko. Please don't confuse our concerns with disappointment. We just want to make sure that your future is guaranteed and you can live once the music stops."

"I promise you that I'm doing everything I can to be stable," Akko assured her parents. "And I promise I'll come visit Japan soon, got it? And maybe both of you can come visit New Bedford sometime! You guys have never been here. You could come meet all my other friends who I've made over the years and see the girls again. We'd all like to see you both."

"That'd be a great time, Akko," her mother said lovingly. "Maybe we'll have to plan a trip once work let's up." Akko blushed at the thought of her parents coming to visit. "But please, don't get distracted from your school work. You've been in college a long time now. It's time for you to finish up."

Akko rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, Mother," she groaned. In her moment of sighing though something kicked up within Akko and she had a revelation, a revelation that she could not be distracted from and had to seize while it was still present. "I'm sorry for having to cut this short, but I was coming up with a song and I'm going to forget it if I don't write it down," she told her parents sheepishly. "Can we talk again sometime soon?"

"Of course, Akko," her father assured her. "We're available whenever you want to talk."

"Thanks, Dad," Akko said with a smile. She picked up her acoustic guitar and held her finger over the mouse. "I'll be sure to let you guys hear this song once it's finished, and I'm sure you'll really like it."

Both her parents chuckled at her, which made Akko smile as she brought the guitar into her lap. "We look forward to hearing it, Honey," her mom said. "And we'll miss you very much."

"I promise I'll call again soon," Akko assured her mother. "Now I really gotta write this song before I forget it. Love you Mom, Dad. Talk to you soon!"

Before her parents could say a proper goodbye Akko hung up on their video call. She furiously went across her room and grabbed a pile of staff sheet papers and flipped one onto the backside as she began to strum away rapidly at her acoustic guitar. A full song had come into her head during the conversation, and she was not going to pass it up.

Remarkably she wrote the whole song musically in the span of less than two minutes, it being one of the simplest songs that she had ever written. It was short, fast, and snappy, an almost traditional punk rock song that Akko envisioned having an anthemic chorus and a rapid drum beat that was as furious as her picking hand. It was different but the same; very much A Seed of Sorrow but definitely in a different tone than she was used to writing with the band. Akko wasn't above writing short and fast songs, but this song seemed to push the boundaries.

She decided in the moment that the song needed a title that was just as boundary pushing its tempo. Without even a second thought she remembered what she had said to her mother earlier and wrote it above the staff sheet. And even quicker than that she ha come up with the title she had begun to write the lyrics and envision the vocal pattern in her head.

* * *

Diana was normally a patient person, but at this moment she felt her patience was being pushed to its absolute limits.

The sound of nails being hammered into walls and of workboots clopping over the floor had finally subsided and created a gentle sense of calm throughout the halls of Cavendish manor. Diana hung around the corner from where the contractors were doing their work. She wanted to peek in at just how far along they were with the project she had hired them out to do, which they were able to do in relative haste thanks to Diana's quick payment and her hasty drawings of simple schematics that based off of more detailed drawings she found on the internet. Now the sounds of construction had gone silent, like quiet falling over the western front, and no noise came from the room for several minutes.

Curious and in violation of the rules she had set for herself, Diana opened up the door curiously to see what the contractors were doing. Much to her surprise and somewhat her relief they were packing up their tools and finishing sweeping up from their project. Diana was free to come inside as she pleased.

The high fidelity audio expert who had come with the contractors proceeded to explain to Diana the nature of the recording studio that they had built in one her unused guest rooms in the basement of the Cavendish manor. He explained the strategic placement of the acoustic treatment panels and the sound proofing that had gone around the border of the room. He shared with her the secrets behind why the monitors were placed where they were and how the direct outs worked as far as setting up microphones and other pieces of gear. He even explained to Diana how she could use her Macbook Pro laptop as the piece of recording hardware for her own needs. Diana nodded her head as the expert explained these things and promptly paid both him and the contractors the sum they demanded from her deposit. And once they were gone Diana stepped inside.

She finally had it. She finally had a private space all to herself where she could practice whatever music she wanted, in a far off secluded part of the mansion she lived in where no one would bother her. And once she was inside she proceeded to shut the door, boot up her laptop and open up Pro Tools, a piece of software she overheard Akko and Amanda talking about on their ride home from Philadelphia, and then opened up the sound files she requested.

It was none other than one of the hardest songs for her to sing that Akko had thrown at her, a song from the Ruiner album entitled "The Pool". It was a song that they hadn't performed live, but one that Diana wanted to push herself singing over just to help keep her vocal chops strong. Not to mention she was curious as to what she actually sounded like over SOS's music.

After taking a brief moment to arrange the vocal microphone, something she had never done before and was only doing amateurishly based off of what she had read on an online tutorial, Diana straightened out her headphones and pressed play on the mousepad. She had to instruct a brief timer countdown to help her play the song. With barely a moment to catch her breath Akko and Amanda's tremolo picking kicked in and the song began rapidly.

 ** _The room's new carpet, and the walls' apartment hue add to the visitor feeling I'm used to._**  
 ** _The morning window's freezing from outside._**  
 ** _It wakes me up._**

The tremolo picking then ceased and slowed down into a breakdown section that featured only Lotte playing a series of double kick bursts behind the vocals. And Akko's voice over her own made her heart jump.

 _Wasting air to the falling light._  
 _Angel, you picked me up but the devil wants me too._  
 _ **I never gave a fuck, so why should you?**_

 _ **I awoke in a fog with an ache, at a loss.  
You were faking through relationships to rot.  
This is not my home anymore.**_

 _All my accomplishments are joined with asterisks,_  
 _ **so in a few years they're meaningless.**_

 ** _Darling, I can't erase it, but could you forget my lies?  
We were the slut and the self-made mess.  
Please know I tried._**

 _ **Smile, smile.**_  
 _ **Smile for all.**_  
 _ **I can't smile…**_  
 _Anymore._

Diana wanted to mull over how much Akko's voice could make her to say things she would be disgusted to say in conversation, but she wasn't given much of a chance to ruminate on the subject further as the tremolo picking kicked right back in.

 _ **I skip rocks to mock the clashing tide.**_  
 _ **It's encroaching on our side.**_  
 _ **The wave parade is drowning me out too.**_  
 _ **It breaks me up.**_

 _Wish I could have done more to you._  
 _They used your body up, leaving your guts dry._  
 _ **But you never gave a fuck so why the fuck should I?**_

 _ **Darling, I can't erase it, but could you forget my lies?  
We were the slut and the self-made mess.  
Please know I tried.**_

The song went into a brief harmonic interlude and Diana actually found herself bobbing her head lightly to the riffing. Akko's voice quickly brought her back to the song.

 **Now the face escapes me, but the shame's forever.**  
 _When I get the nerve to test the death for life renewal,_  
 ** _you'll find me lying at the bottom of the pool._**

 _And when I'm face down in that water,_  
 **don't pick me up.**  
 _Cause I'll be face down in that water next to you;_  
 **don't pick me up**  
 _It will be better underwater._  
 ** _Don't pick me up._**

Diana held out the word "up" until the vocals faded out and a brief breakdown came to end the song. She then leaned over to her computer and ended the track before sitting down to hear how her vocal track sounded over the song. Moving her hand over the trackpad, she went to play the song. She sat back in her chair and listened closely, mildly amused at just how she sounded over the track, though she picked out a few parts that inevitably would have to be worked on. Calmly she went to delete the track and go record an overdub again but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Diana?" a female voice called out. "You in there?"

Diana sighed lightly and leaned back in her chair before going to get the door. On the other side stood Hannah and Barbara, both wearing spring outfits and smiling from ear to ear. "Hello ladies," she greeted casually. "What brings you here?"

"We were gonna go shopping, remember?" Hannah pointed out curiously. "Barbs is trading in her Mini for a new car?"

"What are you doing in this part of your place, Diana?" Barbara asked curiously. "It's kind of dark and a bit spooky down here if I'm honest."

Diana felt her cheeks grow rosy and looked about nervously at her two friends. "Oh nothing, just finishing up a project I've been working on."

"Oh?" the raven haired girl said. "What kind of project?"

Diana felt herself grow more nervous as to how she would explain herself to Barbara, but she was given an escape when her MacBook made a tone indicating a new email had been sent. Apologizing for her rudeness, Diana closed the door to her studio and went over to the computer to pull up the email. It was from none other than Atsuko Kagari. It read:

 **Diana,  
Check out these new songs I wrote. Think you could look over the lyrics and listen to these rough tracks before our next practice? Thanks!  
Akko**

Diana wanted to open up the attachments and listen at the songs but she knew she had to attend to Hannah and Barbara first. Reluctantly she shut her Macbook and walked out out of the studio, careful to open and shut the door in a manner that would not reveal the true nature of the room to her closest friends.

* * *

The song started out with a scaled run up the neck, a harmonized riff that kept up before a forward moving drum beat carried it off into the heart of the piece. This carried on for several bars with an omnipresent beat behind it before the song slowed down into another harmonized riff that Akko and Amanda carried up into the higher frets of their guitars. After the riff stopped and a brief lead by Amanda took place, Diana made her entry into the song, chugging palm muted guitars backing her up.

 _If I can then I will twist_  
 _this knife until it snaps_  
 _at the hilt to make you feel_  
 _this damage done is real._

 _When will I recover from_  
 _a wound that never heals?_  
 _The answer's always never._  
 _Forget November and suffer with a smile._

The beat kept up and the riffing continued, but Akko gritted her teeth as she struggled to keep up. Amanda and Sucy looked over her curiously. They never knew Akko to fall behind in any song easily, especially not this one, so seeing her struggle was a bit strange to say the least. The two decided not to stop in hopes that Akko would catch up.

 ** _Blood soaked t-shirt worn only once and left_**  
 ** _wet to remind me never to turn my back on you again._**  
 _Counting all the days and nights since I've slept_  
 _ **and you're not alone?**_  
 _How could anything this tragic_  
 _turn into a laughing matter._  
 _ **Am I not alone?**_

 _Just because you're rotting_  
 _doesn't mean you're dead._  
 _It doesn't make you loved._  
 _You just got lost in it._  
 _We both love the money,_  
 _we all love our friends._  
 _It doesn't make us pricks._  
 _We just keep…_

Finally Akko couldn't take it anymore. "ARGHHHHHH!" she growled sharply. She flicked the pickup switch back and forth on her Les Paul rapidly, producing a series of harsh beeping sounds that interrupted the cadence of the song. Everyone stopped playing as soon as she began this irritating noise, which was enough to make everyone wince and put their hands over their already plugged ears.

"Hey hey hey!" Amanda shouted over the noise. Akko grabbed her guitar's neck sharply and cut the noise out, kicking the carpeted floor below her as she held the Epiphone in her hands tightly. Amanda looked on with a raised eyebrow. "What's going on with you, Akko?"

Akko clenched her fists and let out a long sigh before looking over at her bandmate. She couldn't believe what was happening with her in this rehearsal. It was a key practice before a big show they were going to play in Lowell Massachusetts, another large punk rock showcase that they were going to be playing at alongside not only local bands but some of the bands they were friends with from other parts of the United States. The show was another high profile show for the late spring, early summertime circuit, and Akko had the band practicing into the early hours of the morning like maniacs to try to prepare themselves for the show. For awhile the rehearsals seemed to go perfectly, but today Akko couldn't help but be out of sync. Other things were on her mind than just playing the same old songs.

"I'm just having a rough day," she groaned as she relaxed her fists. Her bandmates looked at her with raised eyebrows, trying to figure out just what was wrong with their friend. "I'm stuck on that new song."

"Which new song?" Sucy questioned.

"The second one, 5 to 9," Akko said sullenly. "I feel like the song isn't done. It needs something and I can't figure it out."

Sucy shook her head and looked down at the floor. This was highly typical of Akko whenever she came up with a new song. She would become disruptive and agitated, unable to focus on rehearsing or much of anything until the song was completed in her head. It was something that her, Lotte, and Amanda had learned to live with and Diana was only now beginning to experience for herself. Of course Akko didn't really care what effect this had on the band. She didn't mind that it inevitably annoyed the living daylights out of almost everyone involved. She just wanted to be able to stay creative.

"Why don't we just take a break?" Diana suggested as she pulled the headphones off of her head. She did a mild shake of her hair that made Akko breathe in quietly. It was alluring in ways she never expected and would never say, and that she refused to dwell on. "I think we could all use a rest."

Akko sighed and looked down at her smart phone. They had started rehearsal at five o'clock in the afternoon after her and Amanda had gotten home early from work and Lotte got out of her job. It was one of Sucy's off nights, and Diana didn't have to work, so they had played long into the evening. It was now almost eleven o'clock and they had been playing and bantering amongst one another in brief spurts, but they hadn't taken any kind of a break to even eat a snack since they had started. It was truly a marathon event that all of them were a bit surprised that they were pushing through so hard.

Amanda went over to the fridge and pulled out a six pack of Samuel Adams Boston Lager and passed it around the room. Akko watched carefully as Diana again refused to drink the beer. It was a strange sight for her, even though she knew that beer was not something that everyone liked. She did figure that Diana would have gotten the idea already that it wasn't about drinking the beer but about being one with the group. Diana may have been a member of A Seed of Sorrow, but she still did certain things that irked Akko and made her question how badly Diana wanted to be a part of the group. She kept these concerns to herself though. The rest of the band didn't seem to want to hear it, and she knew deep down that Diana wasn't going to be replaced easily, or at all for that matter.

"What is it about that song that's getting on your nerves, Akko?" Lotte asked as she took a sip of her beer and sat behind her drum kit.

"I don't know," Akko said glumly as she leaned against her Mesa cabinet and held her Les Paul in between her legs against her shoulder. "I just feel like it's lacking something, or some things." She took a sip of her beer and let the bitter liquid fall down her throat. "Something has to bookend the song and I can't seem to figure out what it is."

"The demo you put together seemed like a good start," Amanda said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't know, what do you think, Princess?"

Akko watched Diana sigh at the nickname and turn her attention away from Amanda and towards her. "It sounded alright. Both songs were incredibly fast and full of absolutely vulgar lyrics, if I'm honest. Did you really need to title the first song 'I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz'?"

"Well shoot they're just some ideas for fast songs," Akko pointed out. "They gotta have lyrics that push just as hard as the tempo." She took a sip of her beer and pointed her bottle back at Diana. The blonde was still a prude in Akko's eyes. "Besides, its punk rock. A little edginess and cringworthyness never hurt anyone."

"Regardless," Diana began with a roll of her eyes. "The second song did sound like it was rather incomplete. But I'm not exactly much of an instrumentalist here, so I don't know about coming up with a few passages that could help finish out the song."

Akko frowned and looked down at the floor while lightly plucking away at the strings of her guitar. She was actually proud of where she had came so far with the song, another rapid up tempo piece that she thought was energetic, technical, and even a bit progressive. She even been happy where she had gone as far as the lyrics went. But she felt like something was missing from the song that she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was definitely incomplete, and nothing was coming to her.

"Cheer up, Akko," Sucy said in her typical deadpan tone. "I'm sure something will come to you soon." Akko sighed and sat on the floor as Sucy filled the room with the muted sounds of her bass strings being tapped away by her fingers in an arpeggiated pattern. The pattern seemed to go off in Akko's head like raindrops, and she kind of wished Sucy would stop it. She went to take another sip of her beer and then looked out of the corner of her eye. Diana was staring at Sucy with wide open eyes as the puce haired woman continued to tap her fingers away on the fretboard of the bass in her hands. Akko watched Sucy take notice of Diana and look over at the blonde haired woman. "Yeah?" she questioned.

"What are you doing?" Diana questioned curiously.

"It's a tapping exercise," Sucy replied slowly with a raised eyebrow. "You tap arpeggios over and over again to improve your technique, see?" Sucy did the tapping pattern a few times over and over again to demonstrate just what she was doing to Diana. Akko looked on at what was happening with a raised eyebrow. She could tell something in Diana had latched onto what Sucy was doing and wasn't going to let go of it.

"That beat, that pattern," Diana began. "It's...it's…" She began to snap her fingers and make Akko look over her with a raised eyebrow that matched Sucy's. "It's percussive, it's sharp...it's…" She stopped again and continued to gesture with her hands before coming out with a statement. "Akko, can you play a riff over that?"

Akko raised her other eyebrow and began to stand up from her seated position. "A riff over what? That tapping pattern?"

"Yes, yes, over what Sucy is doing on the bass, can you play a riff over it?" Diana questioned hurriedly. "And you too, Amanda. Can you play a riff over that as well?"

"What something like this?" Amanda proposed. She watched as Sucy tapped away at the arpeggios and then grabbed the neck of her guitar before playing a furious syncopated riff over the tapping lick. Akko watched closely and saw the light go off in Amanda's eyes. "Yeah, I can. I can definitely do that."

"And Lotte, can you play some kind of syncopated beat behind the riff as well?" Diana questioned.

"Hmm," Lotte said with her finger on her chin. She grabbed her drum sticks and watched closely as Sucy tapped away on the neck of her bass and Amanda played the riff she had come up with over top of it. When the two girls went to play it again, Lotte did a rapid drum roll on her sole rack mounted tom drum and then hit her snare and crash cymbal. Akko watched all of this curiously and began to piece what was coming into form. Quickly she latched onto the riff that Amanda had begun to play, and then matched it with a set of rapid palm muted chords that were accompanied by an almost blast like beat from Lotte and some hard hits from Sucy's bass. They then briefly went into the main riff of the song before stopping.

"I think we found something, Akko," Amanda remarked with an eager smile and a furrowed brow. "You want to try it out?"

Akko collected her dropped jaw and raised brow before gripping the neck of her guitar and pick tightly with her fingers. "Yeah," she said sharply. "Lets try it out. Lotte, give us a countdown."

Lotte held her drumsticks over her head and tapped them together quickly. "One, two, three four!"

Sucy began the tapping lick that Akko and Amanda covered up with a riff and Lotte did her tom drum roll. The palm muted chords came next before the tapping lick and riffing came again, before the song broke into an arpeggiated harmonized riff that continued over a rapid, double kicked drum beat. This continued for several bars until Lotte did a drum roll behind a riff and Diana entered the song on just the right beat. Akko still felt her blood course rapidly.

 _This grin is shit-eating and fleeting like a catamaran._  
 _ **It fits me better than a smile on a dead man.**_  
 _ **Watch the hands of the ticking clock for emotional rock!**_

Akko then leaned up closely against her microphone to begin one of the parts she had carefully written and greatly looked forward to practicing for the first time. It involved her and Diana singing closely together, with Akko coming in slightly behind her but still in time.

 _ **I've strangled necks of ages**_  
 _ **with the fabric of new words.**_  
 _ **The bar withstood the raising**_  
 _ **which taste makers allowed.**_  
 _ **One fire to block the exit,**_  
 _ **two palms to block the sound**_  
 _ **as each bulb smashed from the ceiling**_  
 _ **at the lighthouse!**_

Amanda sweep picked her way through a series of quick arpeggios and let a few squealed pinch harmonics come off her fretboard before Diana went right into the next verse at a rapid tempo. Akko, Lotte, and Sucy kept up the pace.

 _And with the weight of a monolith perched on a guiltless chest._  
 **Once a witness you can't shake the thought**  
 _of 15 year old dick ornaments on kabuki faced jocks hair sprayed up the ass._  
 **Wide open inviting the next pop rock star asshole!**  


 ** _Well I won't be failed anymore!_**

To emphasize the tempo change, Lotte threw in an improvised series of snare blasts that she hadn't recorded in the original demo of the song. Akko raised her eyebrow at her bandmates improvisation. It sounded absolutely natural to the song. Akko was also shocked at just how much power Diana put into the rapid chorus.

 _ **And I won't play fair anymore!**  
All eyes are on the lighthouse, collapsing!_

The song then slowed its tempo down into another syncopated riff. Akko's blood was still boiling from the way the song was being played, but she looked out of the corner of her eye to see Sucy headbanging furiously, whipping her long hair up and down with exaggerated throws of her neck that would surely hurt afterward. The song then continued on into another rapid power chord section before breaking down again. In the second breakdown Sucy threw in a brief improvised bass solo, which Akko again felt fit into the song like a perfectly matched puzzle piece.

She then took her place up again next her microphone for another section of her and Diana singing together.

 _ **I've strangled necks of ages**_  
 _ **with the fabric of new words.**_  
 _ **The fires were amazing.**_  
 _ **Why would you put those out?**_  
 _ **And what the gun was not erasing,**_  
 _ **these bare hands snuffed right out.**_  
 _ **when each bulb smashed from the ceiling**_  
 _ **at the lighthouse.**_

The song then sped up again. Akko watched as Diana took a deep breath and gathered herself for a powerful close to the song.

 _You won't be failed anymore!_

The song then broke back into a similar section that lined the beginning and then ended on a brief scaled run by Amanda. Diana held onto her last line sharply and projected it with a great amount of power, so much power that Akko felt her already rushing blood go into overdrive and felt her heart nearly jump out of its stomach. She managed to take a single line in a punk rock song and make it sound majestic, which Akko had never heard before in her life.

When the band stopped playing all the members looked at each other with wide eyes. "Wow," Lotte muttered from behind her drum kit. Akko looked on at all the members of her band, they were all breathing in and out heavily, but Lotte, Amanda, and Sucy all had smiles on their faces while Diana looked on in shock at what they had played.


	8. I Got Friends

**AN: Hi there, I'm back with another update! This one came out quicker because I feared if I included everything I wanted the chapter would be obnoxiously long. So a lot of the things I wanted to include in this chapter will come in the next one. For now, enjoy this one!**

 **One song by A Wilhelm Scream Appears in this chapter; Me vs. Morrisey in the Pretentiousness Contest (The Ladder Match). As always, I highly recommend you listen to the song when it comes up in the chapter.**

 **Enjoy reading and thank you for the support!**

 **-Symbiotic**

* * *

"Hey, Akko!" Amanda called out from the door connecting the garage to the front of the shop. "You coming for lunch or what?"

"Coming!" Akko called out. With that Akko logged off her shop computer, grabbed her lunch, and went to the small kitchen connecting the garage to the waiting area where Akko worked. Amanda and Constanze sat at one table while the other mechanics took their places at another. Akko took her place next to Amanda and Constanze before opening up her lunch.

"Instant ramen again?" Amanda remarked with a raised eyebrow. The redhead looked over at Constanze, who moved her hands about in a lingual fashion to sign something to Akko. Amanda watched closely as Constanze sent out her message. "Constanze says your sodium levels must be through the roof."

"Well I gotta eat something," Akko replied. She walked over to the sink and filled the ramen cup with water before going over to put it in the microwave. "Besides, I've got some healthy stuff. I've got a banana and a granola bar with my lunch."

Amanda watched closely as Constanze began to sign some more with her hands. "Constanze wants to know if you eat so much instant ramen because it reminds you of Japan."

Akko chuckled and shook her head at the German girl's question. "No I don't," Akko remarked. "This stuff doesn't compare to the real thing. It doesn't even compare to Japanese street ramen, much less the good stuff you can get in a restaurant." The microwave beeped and she pulled the hot container out before putting in the package of seasoning that came with the instant meal. She blew a little bit on the soup before taking her seat at the table next to Amanda and Constanze. "I only eat it because it's so cheap to buy in bulk. I have enough instant ramen back at the house to last me a month."

"You're crazy," Amanda stated as she bit into her sandwich.

"I am not crazy!" Akko shot back. "I'm just frugal is all."

Amanda held up her sandwich for Akko to see. "Akko, this is a ham and cheese sandwich. I bought the ham from Trucci's for $5.99 a pound. The white bread was $0.99 a loaf and the American cheese singles were only about three bucks. Call me crazy, but I think you can afford on your meager salary to eat some cold cuts."

"I see your declaration and I raise you my own," Akko said after slurping on some ramen. "You're crazy to think I can afford to buy a delicacy like cold cuts and bread, Amanda. You can buy thirty instant ramens for less than a dollar a container. Those cold cuts over the course of a whole month will cost you close to twenty bucks, not to mention the cost of the cheese and the bread."

Constanze did some more signing for Amanda to interpret. "Constanze says you're too cheap for your own good."

"Constanze! You're supposed to agree with me!" Akko groaned. She threw her head back in her chair and sighed before looking back up at Amanda. "Look, I'm just trying to eat on a budget, okay? I'm saving up for a new guitar and I really need to put away every cent I possibly can."

"Eating instant ramen and pinching pennies that way isn't going to get you a Gibson Les Paul Custom, Akko," Amanda pointed out notedly. "Besides, you can always buy a used one on Ebay or something. Oh wait, I forgot. You don't want someone else's used gear because you'd rather say you bought things brand new for yourself."

"That's right," Akko replied with a large smirk across her face. "I'll never take a handout if I can help it."

"Whatever you say, Akko," Amanda remarked with a roll of her eyes.

Akko shook her head and huffed before going back to eating her instant ramen. It was then that her head perked up after she remembered something critical she wanted to share with her red haired bandmate. "Hey Amanda, can I show you something?"

Amanda swallowed a bite from her sandwich and drank some of her soda before turning back to Akko. "Sure. What is it?"

Akko reacher into her pocket and passed Amanda her smart phone and earbuds. "Listen to this."

Amanda put the earbuds in and let Akko press play on the smart phone. Akko watched closely as Amanda listened and bobbed her head lightly at the songs. Akko could see the reaction on her face and felt herself grow antsy. "Well? What do you think?"

Amanda pulled the earbuds out and looked over at Akko. "They're fast," the redhead said notedly. "Really fast. Kinda thrashy too. I like 'em." Akko nodded her head in agreement. "But I thought you already wrote two fast songs, and they were both pretty good. Why write more?"

"Because," Akko began. "I think I want to write a whole album like this."

Amanda looked at Akko with a raised eyebrow. "You want to do what?"

"Think about it," Akko began. "A whole album without any slow songs or melodic tracks. Instead it will be technical, progressive, and above all fast. It'll be like A Seed of Sorrow strapped to a rocket while high on coke and candy." She took another slurp of her ramen. "I already talked to Lotte and Sucy and they're up to the challenge. I just gotta check with you and Diana."

"You're crazy, Akko," Amanda said with a chuckle. Akko pouted and crossed her arms before leaning her chin on her hands. She felt like she was onto something for new music and she hated being rejected. "But you're crazy like a fox, at least this time. So I'm down."

"Yatta!" Akko exclaimed. The other mechanics in the shop looked at her curiously, which made Akko slump back in her seat and laugh sheepishly. "Sorry, got excited there. But that's awesome you're down to do this. This album is going to kick so much ass!"

"There's only one problem," Amanda pointed out. She took a sip of her soda before turning back to her friend. "You're gonna have to get Princess on board too. Making an album this ballsy isn't going to work if she's not into it, and if she wasn't into the whole 'I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz' thing than I think you got yourself a bit of an uphill battle. I'm sorry to say that, Akko, but it's the truth."

Akko huffed and put her head in her chin. She would have to get Diana on board, and that wouldn't be easy. She wasn't given much time to mull over it however. A text message on her smartphone made the device vibrate against the table, and Akko picked it up to look at. When she read it her eyes went wide and her brows furrowed in anger. Amanda looked on curiously before Akko turned back to her.

"Remember that crappy office job that Lotte got fired from not too long ago?" Akko stated in anger. Amanda nodded her head curiously. "Well she just texted me back and said that bitch who she worked under is withholding her last paycheck! How can they just do that?"

"Ah don't worry about it," Amanda said with a gentle shove on Akko's shoulder. "Lotte's a big girl and she's got that job at the music store giving drum lessons. I'm sure she'll come up with something else to pay the bills." Amanda took another bite of her sandwich before talking to Akko with her mouth full. "Why don't you focus on getting Princess on board with this turbo warp drive album idea before you worry about Lotte's problems, okay?"

Akko sighed and put her head back in her chin, trying hard to figure out a way to get Diana on board with her ideas, but her thoughts were quickly distracted. She got up from her chair, grabbed a paper towel, and pulled a pen out from her pocket. She had gotten another idea for some lyrics and couldn't wait to put them down.

* * *

Diana stood next to her bed as she looked at the folded arrangement of clothes that was laid before her. Anna, her loyal maid and one of her closest confidants, had folded up her laundry for her and had placed it on her bed for Diana to put back in her closet. Diana could have folded the laundry herself and often protested Anna doing something so mundane out of politeness but Anna insisted it was all fine with her. The two made ultimately came to a compromise. Anna would fold the laundry and then leave it on Diana's bed for her to put back into her closet. It was a fair arrangement that made Diana feel better about the relationship she had with Anna, and one that she relished in because it was a sign of her independence.

This time Hannah and Barbara had invited themselves over while Diana did her remedial chore. Diana didn't mind their presence in the slightest, though she did wish they were more courteous than to just invite themselves on a day where she wanted to take it easy. Thankfully the two of them were being more than kind and allowing Diana to do what she wanted.

Hannah laid on the other side of Diana's bed from the clothes and held up her smart phone over her face while sending a text message. Barbara sat in a chair at the corner of Diana's room. "So Diana, how come the past couple times we've hung out you've been so tired?" the black haired girl questioned.

"Are you seeing someone, Diana?" Hannah asked. She rolled over on Diana's bed and gave the blonde a sultry look. "A late night affair with a dashing prince, perhaps?"

"I'm afraid not," Diana replied bluntly. Hannah frowned at Diana's response. "Sorry Hannah, but your fantasies will have to stay as just that, fantasies. Any suggestion that I've found myself in any kind of romance is patently untrue."

"Then why are you staying out so late and sleeping till like one o'clock in the afternoon so much lately?" Hannah asked. "Seriously, it puts a major crimp on Barb and I's plans. Just what the heck have you been doing so much lately?"

Diana stopped in her tracks about halfway between her bed and her closet. Her mind began to lightly pick up speed as she thought about just what to say to Hannah. Could she honestly tell the girl what her true dealings were and the new acquaintances that she had made over the past few weeks were? Would Hannah judge her for the mini tour that she had gone on with A Seed of Sorrow?

Diana briefly considered being honest with her friend, but then she remembered Hannah's harsh reaction to the woman at Le Pace and put that thought quickly out of her mind. "If you must know, I've been auditioning for a prestigious role in La Traviata to be performed in San Francisco. I've been practicing late into the night because this is one of my favorite operas and I've never had the chance to be a part of its cast."

"Oh wow!" Hannah said loudly. She exclaimed it so loudly that Diana actually dropped her clothes in surprise, making the blonde girl huff in exasperation. "Sorry, about that. I just think that's so cool that you're auditioning for a dream role of yours!" Hannah got off the bed and walked over to Diana. "Here, let me help you."

At first Diana welcomed the offer for Hannah to help, but as she looked down at the clothes she had dropped she saw one article in particular that she could never let Hannah see. Hastily she began to pick up the clothes and hold them in a ball, telling Hannah it was quite alright and that she didn't need the auburn haired girl helping her. But before Diana could grab all the clothes she watched in shock as Hannah picked up the one article of clothing she didn't want her to see; the Gorilla Biscuits hoodie that she bought at the Goodwill store and had taken a liking to wearing around the house.

"What's this thing?" Hannah asked curiously as she picked it up. Diana felt her face go pale and her stomach do a somersault. She watched in agony as Hannah turned the sweatshirt back and forth to examine it. "It's so...edgy. Diana, I didn't know you wore clothing like this."

Diana's eyes darted back and forth between the ball of clothing and the sweatshirt. She wanted to grab it, but she realized her hands were too full and she would just drop her clothes again if she did such. "If you must know I've been experimenting with my wardrobe as of late, Hannah. Now if you'd be so kind as to give me my sweatshirt back…"

"Hey, Barbs, take a look at this thing," Hannah called out. The black haired girl walked across the bedroom from her chair and looked up at the sweatshirt. She carefully took in the odd lettering and the somewhat grotesque picture of a grinning ape on the back of the hoodie. Her eyebrows were raised up in curiosity, and Diana herself felt like she was about to collapse to her knees in embarrassment.

"This is pretty neat," Barbara said with a smile. Diana felt her jaw drop at Barbara's proclamation. "Diana, can you try it on for us?"

"Oh well I…" Diana muttered nervously.

"Please," both girls begged in unison.

Diana dropped the clothes and took the sweatshirt from Barbara's grasp. With trepidation she took the sweater and threw it over her shoulders before slipping her arms into the sleeves. Before she could do so with Hannah and Barbara's complete attention, Hannah's phone made a tone for a text message. The auburn haired girl bolted over to her phone and picked it up before smiling from ear to ear. "Alright! Double date confirmed, Barbs," Hannah proclaimed with glee.

"Double date?" Diana questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I met this guy on Tinder who lives like an hour away," Hannah explained. "We're going on our first date and I asked him if he had any single friends for Barbara to go out with and he just confirmed he does, so it's a double date."

"You should come with us, Diana," Barbara proposed.

"I mean I'm sure I could find out if he has another single friend for you to go out with," Hannah stated with a grin. "We're going out this Friday."

Diana sighed. Going out with a man was about the last thing she was interested in, but she felt supporting her friends might be the best option. Then she remembered something critical and smiled. "I apologize ladies, but I have a prior arrangement I must attend to."

* * *

It was the Friday after Diana had stated she would not join Hannah and Barbara for her double date and she found herself over an hour away from New Bedford in Lowell, Massachusetts. The venue was the upper floor of a bar called Pequod's, not all too different from the venue they had played in Philadelphia. Diana once again found herself manning the merch table at the venue, dressed in her Motorhead t-shirt and some ragged jeans, taking comments from the local punk rockers who had now ascertained that she was the new singer instead of just some local friend helping them out. Many of them wanted to get to know her and asked her lots of questions, some of which Diana didn't find entirely appropriate, but she was willing to answer at least a few that weren't too invasive.

One fan, a man wearing a Descendants t-shirt with medium length hair and a Boston Red Sox cap atop his head came up to the merch table with a big smile on his face. Diana looked at him curiously as his grin seemed to be too great than someone who was just interested in buying merchandise from the band. Diana raised her eyebrow at the fan as he stood at the table and reached into his pocket. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yeah yeah," the fan said, a thick Boston accent penetrating the loud space. "Hold on one second. I'm just trying to get my phone here."

"Okay…" Diana said slowly. She turned away from the fan briefly but her attention was regained quickly by his words.

"You're the new singer for SOS, right?" he asked.

"That's correct," Diana stated as she straightened herself out in the chair. "I am indeed the new singer for A Seed of Sorrow. And whom may I ask are you exactly?"

"The name is Silvio," the man explained as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his smartphone. "Silvio Riccardi. I've been a fan of SOS since they first started hitting the road."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Silvio," Diana replied with a gentle but small smile. "Now how can I be of assistance?"

"Oh I'm not here to buy anything," Silvio explained as he fiddled with his smartphone. "I'm here to get a picture with you, you being SOS's newest member and all."

"Is that so?" Diana questioned curiously. "Well I'm sorry, but I…"

"She'll gladly take a picture with you!" a voice exclaimed loudly from behind Diana. Diana turned to see Akko, clad in a red tank top with a yellow star on the front while wearing some jeans. Diana raised her eyebrow at Akko's proclamation and went to protest, but she quickly found herself enveloped over the shoulders by both Akko and Silvio with Silvio holding his smartphone up in her face. He proceeded to snap a picture, which Diana briefly saw. She had an incredibly surprised look on her face that was rather embarrassing to say the least, like she was a doe who had seen some headlights while crossing a dark road. Needless to say it was hardly the most flattering picture someone had ever taken of her.

Akko then gave Silvio a friendly hug and told him she would talk to him a minute before the Japanese girl directed her attention back to Diana. "What was that all about?" Akko questioned.

"He wanted a picture taken and I was going to protest until you rudely interjected yourself," Diana scoffed. She dusted her shoulders off before making a quick transaction with another fan over a copy of the "Ruiner" album. She turned back to Akko, who had an irritated look on her face. "What is it, Akko?"

"You can't just refuse to take pictures with our fans, Diana!" Akko exclaimed as she stood next to her.

"And why not?" Diana questioned sharply.

"Because they're fans who pay money to go to see our shows and we gotta give them something," Akko explained tactfully. Diana wasn't convinced.

"In what world do you live in that you think that's okay?" she questioned. "I am entitled to my privacy and I'm under no obligation to take photos with these people just because they are attending our concert."

"Diana," Akko began. "We pride ourselves on being a very open band who gets close to their fans. And newsflash, we're not a very big band. We need to be as nice to our fans as we possibly can. And that means taking pictures with them when asked."

"That's positively ridiculous!" Diana protested. "Akko, I have no desire to take pictures with every fan who asks to have their picture taken with me. If…"

Diana quickly caught herself and stopped what she was about to say. She quickly realized there would be grave repercussions she did not want to go through at the moment if she actually went through with expressing her thoughts on the matter. She questioned why she was feeling this way on the matter. She truly was under no obligation to take these photos, but rather than pressing home her own point she understood what Akko was explaining, and more important she understood Akko's feelings on the matter. Diana briefly shook herself. Was she actually being considerate of Akko's feelings?

"Look, just ask me to be in the picture too and then you won't feel so alone," Akko brought up. "Sound good?"

"That seems like a fair compromise," Diana replied. Akko looked at her with a wide grin while Diana nodded back gently. She had averted a potentially embarrassing and massively confrontational situation rather deftly, and for once she had actually been considerate of someone else's feelings other than her own. That was new to her, and it raised all kinds of questions. Just what was it about Akko that made her want to act so differently?

Eventually she had to put those thoughts aside as the last band, a band from New York called Such Gold, ended their set and it was A Seed of Sorrow's turn to take the stage. They set up their gear and went meticulously through their soundcheck, this time with Diana's help now that the blonde had a rough idea of what she was doing when it came to sound levels and monitors. In no time at all she had set up the stage for herself. Once Akko and Amanda finished tuning their guitars and Sucy got a few quick test bass licks in Akko let out a few power chords to signify the start of the set, which Lotte accompanied with a slick drum roll and a few smacks of her cymbals.

Diana went over to the center microphone and pulled it off the stand. In front of her were a group of rowdy punk rockers dying to see her band play live, crowding one another tightly and reaching their hands up toward the stage. Diana stood still. This was something that she still had to get used to; the way the crowds reacted to the mere presence of A Seed of Sorrow on stage. It was almost as if some kind of savior had emerged and they were out to greet them in adulation. It was a world away from the opera performances she had partaken in her whole life, but somehow she didn't necessarily find it all that uncomfortable even though it was massively jarring. A crowd in adulation was a crowd in adulation, no matter how that adulation was expressed, and Diana could always appreciate.

As Diana looked into the crowd she began to notice something. She could have swore she saw two people who she knew in the back ,but she brushed it aside. Who did she possibly know in her life aside from Andrew who would be at this show? It wasn't like any of A Seed of Sorrow's fans were people she considered friends of even acquaintances. She banished the thought to the corner of her mind, and instead breathed in before beginning her introduction.

"Lowell," Diana began as she stood in the center of the stage with the microphone in her right hand. The crowd responded with a bunch of cheers. "It's great to be here tonight. We're called A Seed of Sorrow and we're from New Bedford, Massachusetts." Akko looked over at Diana and gave her a smile, which Diana acknowledged with a gentle nod of her head. Akko then began the song, strumming away a few power chords before Lotte, Sucy, and Amanda all came in on the downbeat.

 _Tell me a doll once came dead from above,_  
 _ **How'd you lose your way?**_  
 _It stole a year from your best ones a waste to ground you._

 _ **When i get to your house,  
Off my back i'll lose the weight,  
When i get to your house,  
Swear to god i won't trust the model or the make.  
**I will trust you._  
 **Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright.**

 _Tie me up to the radiator!_  
 _Trust the sweat, not the face it's on._  
 _Tie me up to the radiator!_  
 _Don't put those lights on me._  
 **Don't put those lights on me!**

The last line of the chorus Akko said with a burst of fiery anger that made Diana's heart skip a beat, and nearly made her miss her re-entry into the song. The fans also reached over the monitor as Diana leaned into the crowd to assert her presence with the audience.

Diana once again she could've swore she saw two people in the audience who she recognized, but she wasn't given a chance to look further when a fan jumped onto the stage and tried to wrap his arm around her. Diana was having none of it and promptly shoved the fan aside, who then jumped into the crowd and was carried away on the hands of the rest of the attendees.

 _The same doll came to walk over us,_  
 ** _How'd you lose your way?  
It broke mold got stretched like the weak ones,  
Cracked and dried up slow._**

 ** _When i get to your house,_**  
 ** _Off my back I'll lose the weight,_**  
 ** _When i get to your new fake god,_**  
 ** _I wont trust the model or the make._**  
 _I will trust you_  
 **Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright**

 _Tie me up to the radiator!_  
 _Trust the sweat, not the face it's on._  
 _Tie me up to the radiator!_  
 _Don't put those lights on me._  
Don't put those lights on me.

With that the song went into a section of shredding guitars, Akko and Amanda matching each other note for note in a bout of tremolo and alternate picking as they ran their hands up and down the fretboards of their guitars. And it was then that Diana noticed what she had been seeing all along. There were two people who she recognized in the crowd, and they were coming right toward the front of the stage on the hands of others.

It was Hannah England and Barbara Parker, crowd surfing while wearing bodycon dresses, with Hannah clutching her purse for dear life while Barbara actually looked like she was mildly enjoying herself.

Diana went as white as a sheet as Akko ended the shredding section and a drum roll from Lotte came about. Without even a second thought Diana went into her section of the song, trying very hard to ignore the developing situation in front of her by putting as much power as she possibly could into her vocals.

 _Tie me up to the radiator!_  
 _Tie me up to the radiator!_  
 _Tie me up to the radiator!_  
 **Tie me up, tie me up!**

 _Our vanity's a sickness._  
 **(woah!)**  
 _There's a world outside prescribed,_  
 _And I won't live in it._

She watched as Hannah and Barbara were dropped right to the front of the stage, right in front of a riotous bunch of punk rockers who were practically jumping on top of one another to get closer to A Seed of Sorrow. Their cheering was loud and riotous, and she could see both of them nearly get pulled back into the rear echelons of the crowd. She watched as Barbara grabbed Hannah by the shoulder and braced the two of them against the wall, where they could hold their own against the coming onslaught as Akko began to play a series of chords to begin the next song.

* * *

When the gig was over after an eight song set and the rest of the bands began to say their goodbyes to one another before filling out, Diana went about hastily packing up the merch table when she was doing everything in her power to get out of the venue as soon as possible. Akko had taken notice of this, and went up to Diana to find out just what was going on before packing up her own gear from the stage.

"Hey," Akko said as she walked up to the table. "Why so hasty? The bar isn't closing for another hour or so and I figured we could…"

"I want to go home," Diana said quickly and sharply.

Akko raised her eyebrow and gave Diana a curious look. "Why? Did something happen on the stage there?"

"No it was actually a great performance if I'm honest," Diana said as she finished packing up the boxes of SOS regalia. "It's just that I saw…"

"Diana!" two female voices called out with a mix of surprise and glee. With that Diana dropped the box and turned her head over very slowly. There in front of her stood Hannah and Barbara, their foreheads dripping with sweat and their dresses somewhat hanging from their shoulders as they panted heavily and had looks of complete shock and excitement on their faces. Akko, who was standing behind Diana holding a bottle of Yuengling, raised her other eyebrow at the sight of the two women, who were in decidedly not punk rock attire and looked like they were more attending a typical night club than a punk club.

"Hello ladies," Diana said slowly as she went to pick up the box. "How are you tonight? And where are your two dates?"

"We ditched them when we saw you walk upstairs from outside," Barbara explained. Diana raised her brows. That was so typical and yet so atypical of Hannah and Barbara. It also was mildly off putting that she was being followed so closely by her two friends.

"Diana, you're in a band!" Hannah exclaimed in shock.

"Is this what you've been doing that's been keeping you up so late at night?" Barbara questioned.

"You haven't been rehearsing for any opera, you've been rehearsing with your band!" Hannah proclaimed. "That's what you've been doing all along and you didn't tell us."

"Oh...well...I," Diana began. Akko stood behind Diana with a confused look on her face, Diana struggling to come up with the words to say as she stood in front of the Japanese girl like a babbling idiot who had lost control of every word that was about to come out of her mouth.

"We're almost ready to get back to the van," Sucy said from behind Diana. The blonde turned to see the puce haired, Lotte, and Amanda all standing behind her next to Akko, each holding a case of gear that needed to moved. They however noticed the plight that Diana was in and looked on in curiosity. "What's going on here?"

"I think some of Diana's friends showed up for our show?" Akko said in a confused manner.

"Akko!" Diana scolded. Akko winced at Diana's tone of voice, which made Diana lower her volume. "Yes, these are two of my friends who have decided to attend the show." Diana set the box down and gestured her hands toward the other two ladies. "Girls, this is Hannah England and Barbara Parker. They're two of my closest friends here in Massachusetts." Diana then turned back to her bandmates. "Hannah, Barbara, this is Akko, Lotte, Amanda, and Sucy. They're my bandmates."

"What's good?" Amanda said, gesturing to the two with a held up beer bottle. She held out her hand for Hannah to shake, but the redhead just scoffed. "What the…"

"You all should be thankful Diana is in your band," Hannah said with her nose up in the air. "Considering how uncivilized your music sounds there would be nothing worth listening to if Diana wasn't the one singing for you."

"EXCUSE ME?" Akko shouted at the top of her lungs. The rest of her bandmates and even some of the remaining show attendees looked on curiously at the exchange. Diana looked nervously back at Akko, who was clenching her fists and hyperventilating. "Who are you to call our music uncivilized?!"

"With the way your crowds behave your music is clearly for nothing more than uncivilized brutes," Hannah remarked snidely. "If it wasn't for Diana providing vocals your music would be nothing more than a load of noise."

"Girls could we please…" Diana begged. Lotte, Sucy, and Amanda looked on at the exchange that was forming between Akko and Hannah, which Diana was certain was about to end in a brawl if it didn't stop soon. Before another word could be spoken Sucy, sensing Diana's peril, stepped between Akko and Hannah.

"Sorry about our friend," Sucy said as she looked toward Hannah. "She's a bit too sensitive for a punk if you ask me." Akko growled behind Sucy's arm as she held onto it tightly. "Did you have a good time at the show?"

"I actually did," Barbara replied with glee. "Your music kind of reminds me of Strung Out's if I'm honest."

Diana and Akko's jaws both fell to the floor, unable to speak at what they just heard. Amanda elected to speak for them. "Say what?" the redhead muttered curiously.

"Barbs, what are you talking about?" Hannah questioned.

"I used to go to Warped Tour back when I was a teenager," Barbara explained with a smile. "I was really into pop punk and skate music in high school. Your band really took me back to those days." She then gestured over toward Lotte. "Not to mention their drummer is wearing a 'Nightfall' shirt. I wanted to ask what volume in the series she was on."

"Number 357," Lotte said with glee. Barbara smiled and nodded back in kind, while Hannah stood there with a dumbfounded look on her face. It was clear to Diana and everyone there that Barbara had just revealed some things about herself that Hannah didn't know or expect.

"No wonder you knew how to ride the hands of the audience so well," Diana said astoundedly.

"You mean they crowd surfed to the front of the house?" Akko said with a raised eyebrow. "That's pretty badass if you ask me."

"Could I buy one of your t-shirts?" Barbara asked as she pulled her wallet out from her purse. "I could use a black shirt in my wardrobe if I'm honest."

Hannah, shocked at what she just heard from her close friend, quickly whipped her wallet out of her bag. "I want one too!"

Akko looked over at Diana with a curious nod of her head. "Well, merch girl, you gonna take their money or what?"

Diana sighed and reach over to take Hannah and Barbara's money. With that she opened up the box and passed the two girls a t-shirt, which featured a picture of a bunch of birds attacking an innocent bystander with bold letters against a black printed t shirt. Diana marveled at the exchange that had just taken place. She, like Hannah, had no idea Barbara was like such. It to her was nothing short of a complete shock.

As she stood there, her phone vibrated in her pocket and she went to reach for it. She saw a text message had come through, and it was from one of the last people she wanted to hear from. It was from her aunt Daryl.


	9. Part Of This

**AN: Another update out relatively quickly! I had wanted to get this one out before Halloween, but I ended up adding some things which made it longer. To date, this is the longest chapter I've written, and I hope all of you enjoy it.**

 **Only one song by A Wilhelm Scream appears in this chapter; an acoustic rendition of "The Kids Can Eat a Bag of Dicks". While no such rendition actually exists, I still suggest listening to the song and using your imagination when thinking of how the song would go.**

 **Thanks for the support and critique as always!**

 **-Symbiotic**

* * *

It was only a few days after the gig at Pequod's where Akko met Hannah and Barbara that she found herself back at Poseidon's Poison, having been dropped off at the bar in Amanda's red Volvo 740 Turbo station wagon, nicknamed "The Shooting Star" for the go fast mods Amanda has built into it. Akko offered for Amanda to join her at the bar, but the redhead was far too tired from a long day at work and just wanted to go home. Akko could understand why the redhead was so beat. Wrenching expensive cars was a tedious process that required some frankly backbreaking work and a lot of concentration that Akko couldn't imagine herself having the patience for. Office work was already tedious enough for the Japanese girl, she couldn't imagine doing things like timing chain repairs on expensive German V8 engines or trying to find out why an Italian supercar wouldn't start when it appeared to have no signs of visible wear. So when Akko arrived at the bar she said goodbye to Amanda and Constanze and walked inside.

The bar was lit up by its shady overhead lighting and the neon signs covering the walls behind and next to the bar. Sucy again stood behind the bar mixing up her potions while Lotte sat next to Andrew at the corner of the bar. Akko quickly walked up to Sucy, handed her a twenty, and went with her broken fives up to the online jukebox. Courteous to Sucy, she selected the songs "When I Come Around" by Green Day, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, and an acoustic rendition of Derek and the Dominos smash hit "Layla".

"Your choices sure are eclectic today," Andrew said notedly as Akko took her seat in between him and Lotte at the bar. "Someone must be in a good mood."

"I've been noodling around on my acoustic a lot coming up with ideas," Akko explained as she sat up on her seat. Sucy poured her a cola with the bar's soda gun and passed it over to Akko, which the brunette sipped on lightly through a straw. "I feel like I got a real handle on what SOS is going to do next. But I need your help, Andrew."

"I'm going to go out a limb and say it has something to do with Diana, doesn't it?" Andrew questioned as he took a sip of his gin and tonic.

"Haha," Akko replied mockingly. "You know me too well. But yeah, it's a problem I got with Diana."

"When do you not have problems with Diana?" Sucy questioned in her deadpan tone as she washed out a glass with a rag. "I almost wonder why you let her into the band by this point."

"Hey that's not fair!" Akko shot back sharply. "I don't always have a problem with her. She just does a few things that rub me the wrong way sometimes."

"Whatever you say, Akko," Sucy replied back with a roll of her eyes.

Akko huffed at the puce haired woman and turned her attention back to Lotte and Andrew. "I need to know how I can get Diana to record a new album with us," Akko explained.

"I don't understand, Akko," Andrew said perplexedly. "Diana's in your band already. Why are you asking me to convince her to record an album with you?

"The label just gave us the go ahead to record a new album this summer, and I'm in the process of booking studio time for us. But I need Diana to be on board with this or the whole thing is going to go down the tubes, and she already sorta expressed some distaste with my ideas," Akko explained. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her smartphone and earbuds. "Listen to this."

Andrew put in the earbuds and listened closely. Akko played him demo versions of "I Wipe My Ass with Showbiz" and "5 to 9", demos which featured Akko singing in Diana's place. Andrew nodded his head at the music and pulled the earbuds out of his ears after the songs were done. "Well I'll be, Akko," Andrew began. "You pushed the boundaries yet again with your music."

Akko smiled from ear to ear. "What's an artist supposed to do otherwise?" she said with glee. Andrew rolled his eyes. "The problem for me is Diana didn't like the songs."

"But Akko, Diana helped us finish 5 to 9," Lotte pointed out.

"And did you not see how she how hard of an adrenaline comedown she had after we played the two songs back to back?" Sucy stated as she passed another customer a drink. "I think Diana was more into the new songs than you think."

"Yeah well the fact that she didn't like 'Showbiz' makes me nervous," Akko said as she put her head on top her hands and slouched against the bar from her stool. "I really have some big plans for this album and I don't think I can do them without her."

"Wait wait wait," Andrew said slyly. "Am I hearing that Atsuko Kagari needs Diana Cavendish to help her achieve her artistic vision?"

"Hey!" Akko exclaimed with a shove against Andrew's shoulder. "She's only here to sing, not write any of the music. I can do it all myself."

"So says the girl who couldn't come up with an intro to her own song," Sucy remarked as she passed another customer her glass.

"You're all sunshine and rainbows today aren't you, Sucy?" Akko spat back at her bandmate.

"I just think you're too hard on Diana given the fact that you invited her into the band, Akko," Sucy pointed out. "Whether you like it or not if we're going to record an album like this we can't do this without her."

"Sucy's right, Akko," Lotte said. "I don't think you can sing this stuff on your own. We really need you to let Diana do her best if we're going to record this album the way you want it."

"I know, I know," Akko said glumly. "We really can't do it without her. It's just hard for me to admit it."

"Everyone has to learn to swallow their pride someday, Akko," Andrew said with a smirk. "But if you want my help convincing Diana to record the album, I'll gladly lend you a hand."

Akko's eyes glowed brightly and she went back to drinking her soda. It was then her smart phone vibrated to alert her that she had received an email. Carefully she opened it and she was greeted with what amounted to one of the greatest opportunities in her life to that point.

* * *

She arrived in a glistening silver Mercedes Benz S class, a regal car that conveyed a sense of power and wealth that its owner possessed. It arrived without so much as a murmur at the Cavendish estate in Dartmouth, the servants having prepared everything for the guest the sedan was chauffeuring before she arrived. And from the windows of an upstairs study Diana watched closely as the Mercedes pulled up to the front door, the chauffeur stepped out to open the door, and it's sharp dressed passenger disembarked the back seat.

She was the last person Diana wanted to see, a blonde haired woman wearing expensive shoes, a white blouse with a blue business jacket, and a skirt over her legs. She carried an expensive leather handbag and texted away on the latest smartphone. Black sunglasses hung from her brow and her heels seemed to crack like thunder against the cobblestones of the manor's driveway. And even though she never said a word Diana could feel her entire presence in the house.

"Lady Diana," Anna said from behind. "Your aunt wishes for you to meet her downstairs."

Diana sighed and walked over to Anna, careful to remove her Gorilla Biscuits hoodie and pass it to Anna. "I trust you remember our arrangement, Anna?" Diana questioned gently.

"Of course, my lady," Diana replied as she took the hooded sweatshirt. "Not a word shall be said of your new ventures."

"I'm sorry for reminding you of this," Diana stated in an understanding tone. She reached over and embraced Anna. "But she can never know."

The old maid responded with an embrace of her own. "I understand, Diana. Your secret is safe with me." Diana looked at her maid with a smile and then broke the embrace to walk from upstairs down into the main foyer.

Her aunt heard her footsteps and spoke up from her buried position in her smart phone. "One moment," she stated. Diana crossed her arms and looked away. Though she was patient, she did not have patience for those who wouldn't pay attention to her or give her the time of day. She stood there with a composed look on her face, but looked away to show how much she disapproved of the situation.

Finally Daryl finished sending her message and set her handbag and phone down. "Diana," she said with a smile. Diana looked up at her aunt and uncrossed her arms. "It's been so long, my darling niece."

"Hello, Aunt Daryl," Diana said as she walked up to her aunt. "It has been some time since you have been to Dartmouth now, hasn't it?"

"Oh I suppose," Daryl said as she picked her bag up. "But I must stop and check up on my favorite niece and the home which she inhabits once in awhile." She had a smirk on her face that she knew Akko would call a shit eating grin. A part of Diana actually wished Akko was here just so she could say that about Daryl. Diana was surprised she actually was thinking that, and that she was nearly thinking it out loud. "Come Diana, there is much to discuss."

"Of course," Diana replied. She followed Daryl closely and watched as her aunt ordered the manor's kitchen staff to fetch Diana and her beverages before the two stood on the expansive balcony overlooking the bay.

"So, Diana," Daryl began. "I hear you have been taking some time off as of late, is that not so?"

"It is true," Diana answered. "I have been taking time off of from auditioning for new roles of late. I believe I might just take the whole summer off if I'm honest."

"The whole summer?" Daryl said with a nod of her head. One of the servants arrived with two glasses of white wine for Daryl and her niece. "That would be quite some time. What would you ever do with yourself for that long, Diana?"

"Practice I suppose," Diana stated plainly. She took a sip of her wine, which was chilled to perfection and just the way she took her favorite alcoholic looked at Daryl and she could see her aunt was not convinced.

"You know I have spoken to some of the servants over the phone, Diana, and they have told me some things," Daryl began. "They've told me you've been wearing some interesting attire and have been staying out late."

Diana raised her eyebrows at this. She knew that it couldn't be Anna who would've outed her. Anna was far too loyal. But the thought that one of the servants had been keeping that close tabs on her was somewhat scary. "Perhaps I have. But that is none of your concern, Aunt Daryl. I am singularly focused on my profession and am just taking a hiatus."

"Then surely you won't mind telling me why you've been seen about the house in black t shirts and staying out late, will you not?" Daryl demanded. Her eyes pierced into Diana, but the younger Cavendish would never let herself be ousted by something so simple. Daryl would never bring her low. Still, she couldn't reveal her secret to her aunt. It would never be forgiven.

"I have met someone recently who has introduced me to some new fashion choices," Diana said with a wry smile. "He has been trying to open me up to new things as of late and I have been quite receptive."

Daryl nodded her head. "I'm glad you have found someone of interest, my darling niece," she said with a smile of her own. She turned back out to the bay and sipped on her wine. Diana watched the wind ripple through her blonde hair, watching the way her aunt's hair moved. It seemed to slither like vipers.

* * *

The rehearsal was going just like any other one. They ran through the "Mute Print" album this time, preparing potentially for a show where they would just run through the album straight through and play no other songs. As they had been under Diana, A Seed of Sorrow was incredibly tight, bordering on stifling for their chief songwriter. But by this point Akko had grown used to it, realizing that the rehearsal space didn't necessarily inhibit her creativity and she seemed highly inspired lately to write new songs. They took some time to practice a few new songs that Akko had written, but mostly they focused on the "Mute Print" album over anything else.

Eventually the members of A Seed of Sorrow took a break, sometime around 10:30 at night. They set their instruments down and each had a beer and a quick snack, Diana turning the beer down much to Akko's chagrin but readily accepting the snack of popcorn which she ate one kernel at a time, a manner that made Akko chuckle. She never thought it was possible she could meet someone so dainty as Diana, but now that she had she always found a way to find amusement in Diana's mannerisms. Of course she would remain respectful, but Akko couldn't help but find the way Diana behaved somewhat humorous.

"Another night of sounding absolutely killer," Akko said with a sip of her beer. "It bodes well for our next gig."

"We're playing another one?" Amanda said confused. "I thought we were just gonna work on new material for awhile before we go record the new album."

"Well that was the plan," Akko stated as she took another sip of her beer. "But I got us a gig that you're not going to believe I was able to land."

"And that is what exactly?" Sucy questioned deadpanned. Akko pouted at her bassist's typical tone. It could really get on her nerves at times.

"Guys," Akko said as she stood up. "I just got confirmation yesterday that we've been invited to play the Montebello Rockfest!"

Amanda, Lotte, and Sucy all felt their jaws drop to the floor and Amanda nearly dropped her beer. "You gotta be joking, Akko. Were gonna play what?"

"I'm not joking at all!" Akko exclaimed happily. "We're gonna be one of the opening bands on the hardcore and punk stage. We'll be playing alongside bands like Beartooth, Ignite, Mute, We Were Sharks, and so many others! Not to mention Testament, Sepultura, Converge, and a whole lot of other bands are going to be there. Sucy, you'll even get your share of the crazy music you like because Deicide is playing."

"I could always go for some Deicide," Sucy remarked with a smile. "I just can't believe you landed us this gig."

"Hey, I had to do a lot of promoting and pull a ton of strings, but I got it," Akko said happily. "I got it for us and this gig is going to totally push us through the roof. I think it would also be the perfect time to debut a few of the new songs like 'Showbiz' and '5 to 9' for the crowds to see how they react to them."

"Hell yeah," Amanda said with a pump of her fist. She reached across the rehearsal space and picked Akko up with a laugh. "You are so awesome, Akko. We really owe you one for this."

"Hahahaha you don't own me a thing," Akko laughed as she was set down. "It's all for you guys too. This will put us in front of some really big name people and will allow us to really show our stuff. This gig is no joke and I really want us to bring our A game to it."

"We wouldn't do anything less," Lotte said as she rolled her drumstick between her fingers. "Thank you so much, Akko."

Akko scratched her head sheepishly and grinned from ear to ear. "Hey, what are bandmates for?" she replied back with a grin. She looked over at Diana, who had a very straight look on her face. "Aren't you excited, Diana?"

"As about as excited as someone ignorant of the gravity of this situation can be," she replied with a shrug. "But I assume this is all good news nonetheless. Just curious, when is this festival, Akko?"

"It's in two weeks," Akko proclaimed. "We'll be chilling outside near Montreal shredding the stage with some of our favorite bands! This is going to be so awesome!"

While Amanda, Lotte, and even Sucy all had smiles on their faces and showed their excitement, Diana's face wasn't even stoic. Akko could see her looking away at the ground as if she was nervous and trying to say something. "What's wrong, Diana?"

"I can't play the gig," Diana said stoically.

Akko felt her heart get pushed precariously toward an edge she was not expecting it to come close to. "What do you mean you can't play the gig?" Akko questioned nervously. "The gig is already booked. We're all going to Montreal to play Rockfest, Diana."

"Well I'm not," Diana said, remaining stoic. "I can't play the show, Akko."

Akko shook her head, dumbfounded at what she was hearing. This seemed to come entirely from nowhere. "Why not?" she questioned hastily. "Why can't you play this gig?"

"Akko, I have a big problem on my hands ands I really can't play this gig or any gig for awhile, okay?" Diana stated in her own hurried tone. "I just can't do it for a multitude of reasons."

"What's gotten into you, Diana?" she questioned. "What do you mean a multitude of reasons?" Akko looked at Diana confused and felt her heart teeter on the edge of an emotional cliff that she didn't know if she could come back from. She was going to have to give up playing Montebello Rockfest? No, that could never happen. She could never give that up, not just because of Diana. But she had to get to the bottom of this.

"Akko, my aunt Daryl is in Dartmouth right now," Diana explained carefully. "She controls everything that is dear to my life, largely from afar but every now and then she brings herself in close like she is now. She knows what is going on with me, Akko."

"Knows about what?" Akko questioned. She didn't like where Diana was going with this at all.

"Akko, one of my family's servants has been informing her of the fact that I have been dressing differently and been spending my nights out late," Diana stated quickly. "Whoever it is doesn't seem to have fully ascertained exactly what I'm doing but my aunt is very suspicious. If she were to find out…"

"So you aren't going to play this gig because you're afraid your aunt is gonna find out?" Akko choked out of her throat. It had become bundled up in knots and was as dry as the beach on a hot summer day.

"Akko, this is all a lot of fun to me but you must realize I'm a Cavendish and that means…" Diana went to explain.

"This is all just something fun to you?" Akko questioned through the bundles tied up inside. She felt herself begin to hyperventilate and gritted her teeth, her volume raising considerably as she went to confront the blonde who she was rehearsing with. No pretentions of kindness or calmness were going to be held any longer. "Is that was this band is to you, Diana? Something fun until you can go back to opera? We're just a side project to you, is that all?"

"Akko that's not…" Diana went to say.

"THEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE, DIANA?" Akko shouted at the top of her lungs. Everyone in the room winced at just how loud Akko had screamed at the blonde. Amanda was certain that Jasminka and Constanze could hear her even through all the acoustic treatment tiles they had scattered throughout the room. They could all also see that Akko's face was becoming increasingly drenched with tears and that she was trying hardest not to burst out into sobs. Akko's heart had long fallen off the emotional cliff it was sitting on. Now it was drowning deep in a sea of woe and disappointment, and nothing was going to pull it out easily. And it was all Diana's fault, even if Akko couldn't handle disappointment well. Before their friend could begin to cry, Akko stormed off out of the practice room and up the stairs with her head in her hands. Lotte and Sucy instinctively set their instruments down and went up the stairs to follow her. Only Amanda remained downstairs.

"I think you should go, Princess," the redhead stated. With that the redhead took off up the stairs after Akko, leaving Diana to collect her thoughts in the basement alone.

* * *

It had been almost two weeks since Diana had last seen or heard from Akko, or done anything related to A Seed of Sorrow. In that time she had spent it mostly with her aunt Daryl, taking cruises out on the family's sailboat with the servants, eating fancy dinners, talking over the phones with her cousins Maril and Merrill, who later ended up coming to stay in Dartmouth for the week, and other various activities designed to keep the respective members of the Cavendish family busy. It was all things that Diana found only mildly fun. Nothing seemed all that interesting to her without her extracurricular activities she had picked up. Diana actually felt lonely for the first time in a long time. And it didn't help that she couldn't even spend that much time with Hannah and Barbara. Trying to placate her aunt took up much so much of her time that she couldn't even pay those girls the time of day she deserved.

Eventually Daryl's tenure in Dartmouth began to wind down and she along with her two daughters prepared to venture back to the United Kingdom and leave Diana again in peace. And it was a day before she was supposed to leave, a Friday in the morning, that Andrew reached out to her via a text message. Sensing she had a brief window to escape the clutches of her aunt and knowing that talking to a family friend who she knew well would be acceptable, she decided to slip away in her Range Rover and meet Andrew for tea at Mulberry House. Carefully she drove over, unsure of why he was reaching out to her at this time and slightly caught off guard by the urgency with which he asked her to show up.

When she arrived at the coffee shop he was sitting in a chair with his khaki covered legs crossed and a serious look on his face. His arms were also crossed, somewhat wrinkling the salmon colored shirt he had elected to wear. Diana herself had come in a blouse and a skirt, a more formal set of attire than what she had been wearing recently. Andrew's attire however did not make him look the least bit impressed or happy to see her. In fact he looked almost irritated and disgruntled.

He moved a teacup across the table that was still piping hot. "I ordered your Darjeeling tea already," he stated plainly as he sat up in his chair. The look on his face remained stoic but also imposed upon Diana a certain weight that she could feel pressing upon her. His emotions were very clear and he made no efforts to hide them, which threw Diana greatly off her game. Andrew was still composed, but he was composed like a cornered animal that was about ready to strike. Not wanting to anger him any further, Diana took a seat in her chair. "I hope you know why I invited you here."

"I really don't if I'm honest," Diana replied as she sat down in her chair and picked up her tea cup. She went to take a sip and the tea was still scalding hot, so hot it actually burned her tongue and she set it back down. It was almost as if it intentionally was made to be scaldingly hotter than hot tea had any real business being. "Why did you ask me to come here, Andrew?"

"I think you know very well but just aren't willing to acknowledge the reason why, Diana," Andrew stated plainly as she dipped a biscuit into his tea. He took a bite of it and swallowed before continuing on. "But first I wanted to catch up. How are things?"

"Things are...fine," Diana said in a slightly sideways manner. Andrew raised his eyebrow curiously but kept himself facing Diana. "I've been spending a lot of time with my aunt Daryl and my cousins lately. They've kept me quite busy."

"I see," Andrew said plainly. "I would imagine her visit is most inconvenient for you with your activities as of late."

"It has been of no inconvenience to anything really," Diana replied casually. "The only thing she takes up is the time I have alone to myself. Nothing else has been impeded by her."

"Is that so?" Andrew replied. He dunked another biscuit into his tea and ate it before speaking. Diana took a sip of her Darjeeling and sat back in her chair. "Then how has your time been with A Seed of Sorrow been?"

Diana raised her eyebrow. It was a most peculiar question for him to ask, though maybe not unforeseen. She mildly cursed herself for not seeing it coming. It was all too obvious. "My tenure has been fun. It has been a highly enjoyable experience." She sipped on her tea as she leaned back in her chair. "I've even gotten to share it with some of my closest friends," she stated, recalling the incident with Hannah and Barbara at the show in Lowell not too long ago. She was still caught off guard by what happened, but she was glad to know her two friends were more receptive.

"I'm glad to hear it," Andrew said as he dunked another biscuit into his tea. He took a bite before continuing on. Diana watched him and his body language very closely. Something was up and he wasn't giving himself away. "I knew the experience would be nothing but positive for you. So I must ask why you wish to put it on hold just because your aunt is in town?"

Diana nearly dropped her teacup onto the saucer it had been placed upon when Andrew said those words. She should have seen this before. Akko had gone to Andrew and she hadn't seen it coming. Again she cursed herself for being so oblivious to just how much Akko and her's social spheres intersected at such key junctures. It was a mistake that she would not easily forgive herself for. She wanted to get up and leave, but that would be causing a scene that she wasn't willing to cause or partake in.

"Andrew, before you go on some soliloquy about how I'm in the wrong with this let me please say that I have my reasons for not wanting my aunt to find out what I've been doing with Akko and her friends," Diana began to explain carefully. She wanted to get as much in for Andrew to hear as she possibly could, so maybe could be understood rather than just berated by her longtime family friend, something she was hardly in the mood for.

"I'm sure you do," Andrew replied calmly as he looked directly at her with a piercing gaze. Diana could feel the daggers being thrown right in her direction. "But I want to key in on something else that you said before. You said being in SOS was fun. Tell me, Diana, is that all this is?"

Diana looked at Andrew with a sideways glance. "I fail to understand what you are trying to say," she stated as she took another sip of her tea. She was already feeling greatly unnerved by the way he was asking this questions.

"Diana, you said being in A Seed of Sorrow is fun for you," Andrew repeated. "Now I'm sure glad and I'm sure the other girls are glad that you are having fun, but surely you realize for them this is not just about something that is done for mere enjoyment."

"Again, I fail to understand.." Diana began.

"What are you not understanding, Diana?" Andrew retorted sharply, letting some of his anger slip into his voice. Diana leaned back at his tone. "I want to know, is being the singer for A Seed of Sorrow all just something fun for you to do in your free time while you stay away from the world of opera or is it something else?"

"Why does that even matter to someone like you?" Diana questioned in an almost pleading manner, desperately trying to do everything she could to get Andrew to let her out of this situation with any sense of dignity. "It's something I'm doing with my own time and I'm pursuing at my own leisure. Why must you question…"

"Something that you pursue at your own leisure," Andrew began. He tsked at Diana before taking another biscuit to dunk into his tea. "See that's where things are very different but also very similar to you and Kagari."

"Just what are you getting at?" Diana retorted. "Are you saying that I don't take this seriously?"

Andrew paused and leaned back in his chair, looking at Diana with an expression that seemed to suggest he was daring her to answer that question. Diana remained silent. She had fallen into a trap that he had set for her and now she couldn't get out of it until she gave him an answer. And clamming up without a word was the only thing she could think to do right now, trying to get him to give up the trap by speaking first to give her a way out that wouldn't leave her pride and dignity incredibly wounded.

Andrew decided to release his full verbal chokehold on Diana slowly. "Before I pass judgment on whether or not you take this seriously, I just want you to be very clear on something," he began as he picked up another biscuit. "I know you probably don't think so, but this is not something that is done for mere enjoyment by Miss Kagari and her friends." Diana raised her eyebrow and picked up her teacup. "This is more than just an extracurricular activity that Akko and company partake in just cause. For them, Akko especially this is their life, and I don't believe you understand that."

Diana gritted her teeth and furrowed her brow. Andrew had struck a deep nerve in her. "Are you saying that I don't understand what it's like to sink everything you have into a performing art, Andrew? Because I will gladly show you that you are completely wrong."

"Again, you fail to understand what I am trying to say," Andrew replied calmly. He took a bite of his biscuit and a sip of his tea before continuing on. "What you have been doing your whole life doesn't compare in the slightest to what Akko does. It doesn't even come close."

"I'm not going to allow myself to get berated by you in a game of comparisons," Diana shot back at Andrew with a fierce gaze.

"I'm not here to berate you in a game of comparisons, Diana," Andrew replied calmly. "But I want you to realize that A Seed of Sorrow is far more important to Miss Kagari than I believe you could possibly understand." He took a sip of his tea before setting his teacup back down with a pronounced clang. Diana listened closely. He paused for a second to think of the words to say. "Her whole life is structured around that band. Every sacrifice she makes is done in the name her band. A Seed of Sorrow is like a child to her, Diana. It's an artistic child that she invited you to help grow and mold into something greater than it is. And you let her down. You not going to Montebello Rockfest was the equivalent of dropping her child and not trying to pick it back up."

Diana wanted to say something back to Andrew. Something about how she didn't realize just how important this was to Akko. About how she had never thought that she would find such enjoyment and such comfort in being the singer for a punk rock band. About how she never realized how much Akko sank every fiber of her being into A Seed of Sorrow. About how the other girls seemed to rally around her in a way that Diana never could have foresaw. And then for a moment it all came back to the voice, Akko's voice. The voice that Diana had been hooked on for weeks since her and the Japanese girl had met. The voice that she had grown so fond of that she could honestly say she loved it. The voice that she wondered just where in the world it came from when Akko appeared to have no instruction, no tutoring, no training whatsoever.

Diana understood it now. Akko's voice wasn't the product of some factor from the outside. It was a product of someone bringing it out from within. It was the product of someone who had invested their heart and soul into an artistic creation. And Diana hadn't understood it all this time.

Quietly she felt a knot grow in her throat and her hands tremble. She wanted to get up and leave, but she felt like she was bound by chains Andrew had put in her in. She wanted to run home, pack her bags and passport, and tell Akko she was willing to do anything to go to Rockfest. But before she could say such, Andrew spoke up first.

"Akko and the girls are going camping this weekend in New Hampshire, if you must know," Andrew stated. "They leave from their practice space on Cherokee Street at six." A small smile was strewn across his face, as if to say that not only was his point made but that he understood what Diana needed to do and that he was setting her free. And when Diana chose to get up and leave she knew just where she needed to go.

* * *

Akko picked up her duffel bag and threw it into the trunk. She had just done a last minute check to make sure she had everything and was now certain that she was fully packed. It was the last bag to go into back of Amanda's Volvo before the more heavy duty camping gear like the tent went into the back, and Akko couldn't wait for them to get all packed so they could go to Moose Brook State Park already. It had been a long two weeks for Akko and her friends, and this camping trip was a welcome reprieve that they all wanted to go on, especially Akko herself.

"I think the weather is going to be a little breezy this weekend," Amanda pointed out as she strapped her bike to the roof of the Swedish station wagon. The redhead had planned to do some cycling while they were at Moose Brook, something which Akko wanted to take part in but couldn't because she didn't have the funds to purchase a proper bicycle for trail riding. "You plan accordingly, Akko?"

"I'm good," she replied stoically, her arms crossed as she leaned against the Volvo. Her hair blew in the wind that rustled the trees around the house that Amanda rented and A Seed of Sorrow practiced in. She glanced at the house and thought about all the equipment inside that wasn't getting loaded into 'Old Unreliable', who was sitting in the driveway completely still. Akko sighed at the sight. "I just want to get going already."

"Well we're almost ready," Amanda said as she finished tying her bicycle to the roof. Lotte and Sucy put the cooler of food and some other camping gear into the back. They packed with them a small grill to use to cook meat they had brought with them over a portable firepit they also brought, and also packed up the large tent that they would all sleep inside of. They packed the items carefully before shutting the back of the Volvo and waiting for Amanda to finish strapping up her bike.

Lotte walked over to the still stone cold Akko and put her hand on her shoulder. "Maybe its for the best we aren't going to Rockfest, Akko," Lotte said with a smile. Akko looked down to the ground with a frown on her face. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Akko replied quietly, emotion slipping off of her voice. "You're just trying to make lemonade out of lemons." She looked back at Lotte with a quivering smile and sniffled. "I should do the same."

"It'll be good to get away for a few days," Lotte said gently. She touched Akko's shoulder in a gesture to show some solidarity. "Maybe that'll help you take your mind off of things before we go back to songwriting."

"I think so," Akko replied quietly. She reached around and pulled Lotte in by the shoulder. "Thanks for trying to make things better."

Lotte smiled and then went to move away from Akko, but not before all the girls around the Volvo were surprised by the sound of gravel under tires coming from the house's driveway. There from Cherokee Street pulled in a white Range Rover with a blonde haired, blue eyed driver. Lotte breathed in sharply but quietly at what she was seeing. Akko stood absolutely still against the Volvo, only looking at the Range Rover and its driver from the corner of her eyes.

"Akko," Diana called out as she got out of the Range Rover. "Akko, can we please talk?" Akko remained silent and held her arms crossed against the Volvo. "Akko, can we please?"

"What do you want, Diana?" Akko replied quietly, not willing to look Diana in the eye. She couldn't bring herself to do that.

"Akko, I just want you to know how very sorry I am at what I have done," Diana began carefully. Akko could hear her footsteps across the gravel driveway and turned her back away. "I know I had my own concerns, but I didn't respect yours." Akko remained silent and turned away. "Akko, I want you to know that being the singer for A Seed of Sorrow is more than just some fun thing that I do on the weekends. I never thought in a million years I would say it but I really like this, Akko. I like what I'm doing and I don't want it to stop. I want to be a part of this, Akko, and that's the first time I have said that about anything in years. I truly want to be a part of this band. Whether it's sleeping in the van, getting grabbed by stage diving fans or taking all the pictures I need to take, I'll do it all and more if it means being the singer of your band." Akko remained silent. "I know now just how much you put into this. I know now more than ever what A Seed of Sorrow means to you. And I want you to know that it means just as much to me. I truly want nothing more than to be a part of it, Akko. And I'm begging you to take me back."

At those last words Akko hung her head and let her arms fall down. Slowly, she turned back to face Diana and stared her down. The icy gaze that Diana normally had was subdued, looking more like melted ice than the piercing visage that she held so often and that Akko had come -to admire when she brought it to the stage. It now was remorseful, full of regret and genuine sorrow over what had transpired between the two. Akko wanted to ignore it, but nothing she did could divert her attention away from it.

"You ever go camping before, Diana?" Akko asked.

"I haven't," Diana stated. Akko frowned. "But I did buy all the appropriate equipment, including a tent, to join you. We can even take my Range Rover if you like."

At the thought that Diana packed a tent for herself Akko chuckled, which made Diana and the others look on curiously. The Japanese girl then turned her attention back to Amanda. "Do we have room for one more in The Shooting Star?" Akko questioned.

Amanda saw a smile on her friend's face and smirked. "I think we can arrange that," the redhead stated. "It shouldn't be a problem at all." Akko nodded her head and turned back to Diana. The blonde had a smile on her face that Akko hadn't seen before, and one that she actually found rather cute.

* * *

Diana found her first camping excursion to be an interesting one. Once again she was crammed into the back seat of one of her bandmates vehicles, this time the rather tight confines of The Shooting Star in between Lotte and Sucy while they drove from New Bedford up into New Hampshire. The three hour trek took them up Massachusetts highways and into some rustic western Massachusetts and New Hampshire towns that left Akko bitterly disappointed. The towns were getting taken over by major corporations. Every town seemed to have a Papa Johns Pizza, a Dunkin Donuts, a McDonalds, and even worse a Wal Mart or some other mega shopping center being developed within its limits. Diana saw Akko scowl at the sight and ultimately reach for her notebook inside of a backpack she kept up front and start writing. She didn't know what Akko was writing but she figured it was best not to ask.

The group arrived at Moose Head State Park and Diana still felt Akko was giving her a cold shoulder, even after she had initially been receptive of her attending the camping trip. Even if she expected it to be the case she still found it hurt her feelings. And unlike previous times as to why she didn't understand why she was doing certain things for Akko or was feeling certain ways toward her, this time she fully understood why she felt hurt. Diana felt hurt because Akko's feelings were still hurt and that her apology to the Japanese girl was not enough to make things right. Of course Diana realistically knew that some mere words weren't going to make everything better, but she figured it would accelerate the process perhaps more than it had. She decided not to speak up about it the whole ride to Moose Head, but a look of nervousness and sadness was strewn across her face that Lotte, Sucy, and Amanda were all too easily able to make out. Diana did nothing to hide it.

After making their way to the campground Diana did everything she could to try to help. She helped Amanda pitch the tent and helped Lotte and Sucy gather firewood while Akko and Amanda finished arranging the rest of the campsite. The experience was completely alien to her. Diana was never allowed to do things like this as a child and never actively pursued them as she reached adulthood. It was a good thing she had made the trip to a local Bass Pro Shops and picked up all the appropriate shoes or she would otherwise be really out of her element. But she adapted as quickly as she possibly could and went out of her way to be helpful, even if it was a bit of an awkward fit.

Eventually after the tent was pitched and the campsite was completed the members of A Seed of Sorrow sat around in a circle in front of a bonfire they had built and Amanda had lit up. Diana sat nervously in a fold up chair, the silence between the members greatly unnerving to her as she looked slightly away from Akko, who was on the other side of the circle holding her acoustic guitar in her lap. Her body seemed to flicker through the flames, which Diana found mildly unsettling but also rather alluring.

"Anyone have any special requests for some tunes," Akko said as she plucked away at the strings. The other members shrugged their shoulders and drank the beer they had brought with them as the fire crackled away.

Finally, Diana couldn't take the silence anymore and cleared her throat.

 _The sudden sight of mirrors brought the hero's demise._  
 _Hey operator, operator, stop acting civilized!_

At the sound of Diana singing the two lines that she sang the rest of the band members raised their eyebrows, Akko the most. She gave Diana a suspicious glance, wondering what the blonde was doing by bringing up those lines. Akko recognized them all too well. They were from Diana's least favorite song to sing.

After a brief moment of silence, Akko strummed a lone power chord and continued the song.

 **I want to be you.**

 _And the ones to resurrect sex and death bought the copyright._  
 _They ate shit on the record. Did you get the mix right?_  
 _Not quite._

 **I want to be you.**

By this point Akko appeared to no longer hold back and continued to strum along chords on her guitar. Diana breathed in deeply and felt her heart flutter as she continued on.

 **With a graceful fall did you waste it all?**  
 _I found a way for the rest of you._  
 _I missed me too._

 **Tell me that I'm not so weak.**  
 _Tell me that I'm not alone._  
 **Tell me that I'm not so weak.**  
 _Tell me that I'm not alone._  
 **Tell me that I'm not so weak.**  
 _Tell me that I'm not alone._  
 _ **Tell me that I'm not so weak!**_

Akko continued to melodically strum away at chords as Diana prepared herself to continue to sing more. Amanda, Lotte, and Sucy looked on at the exchange. Amanda didn't bother interjecting herself into the song. She knew it wasn't her place.

 _Fuck me if it pours, you're not built for this._  
 _But it's not raining is it?_

 **I want to be you.**

 _ **And we've got the rest of our lives to be our fathers.**_  
 _ **What a dream to wet the eyes!**_

 **I want to be you.**

 **With a graceful fall did you waste it all?**  
 _I found a way for the rest of you._  
 _I missed me too._

 **Tell me that I'm not so weak.**  
 _Tell me that I'm not alone._  
 **Tell me that I'm not so weak.**  
 _Tell me that I'm not alone._  
 **Tell me that I'm not so weak.**  
 _Tell me that I'm not alone._  
 _ **Tell me that I'm not so weak!**_

Diana listened closely as Akko strummed some descending chords and went into the part of the song she had hated the most. She never realized why she had hated it so much before, but now she did. The song struck deep within her at something she hated about herself, and it was painful for her to acknowledge it.

 **Do I hear you crawling on your back?**  
 **Do I hear you crawling on your back?**  
 **Do I hear you crawling on your back?**

Akko's voice made Diana tremble, but she composed herself enough to keep singing.

 **Do I hear you crawling on your back?**  
 _Do I hear you folding up to fear?_  
 **Do I hear you crawling on your back?**  
 _Do I hear you folding up to fear?_  
 **Do I hear you crawling on your back?**  
 _Do I hear you folding up to fear?_  
 **Do I hear you crawling on your back?**  
 _Do I hear you folding up to fear?_

 **Brave you,** _I missed me too._  
 **Brave you,** _I missed me too._  
 **Brave you,** _I missed me too._  
 _I missed me…_

The song slowed down into some muted chords and Diana breathed in gently to finish out the song.

 _We Are All We Have._  
 _We Are All We Have._  
 ** _We Are All We Have._**  
 ** _We Are All We Have._**  
 ** _We Are All We Have._**

When the song was done Akko let one lone chord ring out into the wooded air around the camp site. Everyone then remained silent for a moment longer. Diana felt her heart flutter in circles as she sat still. She didn't know if she had gotten through to Akko, and she hoped dearly that she did. She knew for her though she had faced something down through the song. She only hoped Akko did the same.

Finally she looked across the fire and saw the one thing she wanted to see more than anything else. She saw Akko smiling, and not just a small smile. Rather she was smiling from ear to ear like a happy child. The sight made Diana swoon and blush, and the other members of A Seed of Sorrow promptly laughed at just how much Akko had enjoyed herself and how happy she was. Diana remained silent, but she smiled at the sight too.

"So I guess you don't want to throw up singing that song anymore, huh?" Akko remarked as she straightened herself out in her camping chair.

"Not at all," Diana replied courteously. "Thinking about it it might just be one of my new favorites." Diana watched Akko reach over to the cooler for a beer and spoke up. "Akko," she spoke up. The Japanese girl looked back over at her. "Can I have a beer too?"

Amanda's jaw dropped at Diana's request. "No fucking way," the redhead snickered. "After all this time now you decide to have a beer?"

"I figure now would be as good of a time to try one if there ever was," Diana stated. Lotte and Sucy couldn't help but snicker as Amanda reached into the cooler and threw a bottle of Blue Moon at Diana. Not being very athletic she bobbled it and it fell into her lap, along with the bottle opener Amanda chucked at her. Diana took the bottle and popped the cap off before taking a long swig of the beer, much longer than any of the other girls expected. They all watched as she swallowed it down with an exaggerated look on her face that was definitely one of shock. The other members laughed.

"You look like you drank poison," Akko laughed. "Is it really that bad?"

"No it's just," Diana began as she took another sip. She swallowed it down with another grimace. "It's just different, that's all." She took another sip before setting it down against her chair, this time grimacing less. "I think I like it."

Akko laughed. "I'm glad you like it too." She straightened out her guitar and sat up. "So now that you're out here with us, Diana, I want to ask you something." Diana sat up straight at attention and listened closely to what Akko had to say. "I've been writing a lot of new songs lately. And I just got a go ahead for studio time I booked at a place where we recorded our last two albums." She paused and looked away, which made Diana raise her eyebrow. "Diana, I got a really good feeling about all the songs I've been writing. I think this next album is going to be absolutely killer, but I got a problem." She paused again. "As much as I don't want to to admit, we can't do it without you. I wrote all these songs with your singing in mind, Diana. And if you don't sing I gotta scrap them all and write something else." Again, another pause. "So what to say, Diana? You wanna go record an album with A Seed of Sorrow?"

Diana gently felt her lips grow into a gentle but wide smile along with her heart do another somersault. She couldn't believe what Akko had just told her; that she was needed. That was something she never heard anyone say about her in her life.

"I'd be glad to record an album with all of you," Diana told Akko. With that all the members of A Seed of Sorrow began to cheer and do fist pumps. Even Diana continued to smile and even chuckled a little bit at what was happening.

"Good," Akko said. "Because you're going to have to start learning these songs ASAP." She straightened herself out in her chair and picked up her guitar. "In fact, I got one to show you right now to get you up to speed."

"It would be an honor to hear it, Akko," Diana replied happily. With that, against the night air and the campfire, Akko began to strum chords and sing the lyrics which Diana would have to lay upon the upcoming album. Diana simply sat back and took in the sound of Akko's voice, a voice which over time she had grown to love.


	10. We Went Away

**AN: Alright, another chapter! I tried to get this one out fast after the overwhelming support for the last chapter, so everyone would get a little chance to read something for a little while. I'll try to get the next one after this out before Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure I'll be able to do so. Regardless I will try my best.  
**

 **Only one song by A Wilhelm Scream appears in this chapter; Cold Slither II. I highly recommend listening to the song when it comes up in the story.**

 **To once again reiterate the lyrics system I devised;**

 _Any lyrics in italics are sung by Diana.  
_ **Any lyrics in bold are sung by Akko.  
** **Any lyrics underlined are sung by Amanda.  
** _ **Any combination signifies a harmony.**_

 **Thanks again for the support and continue to critique as always!**

 **-Symbiotic**

* * *

They all stood in a triangle esque shape, absolutely quiet as the noise gates held back the hiss of their high gain amplifiers in the low basement. This silence hung over the room until the bespectacled drummer raised her drumsticks over her head and tapped them together.

"One, two, three, four!"

With that the song began, taking off into a fast melodic section that set the tone for the song.

 **cobra...  
cobra...  
cobra…**

 _Dead weight!_

 **cobra...  
cobra...  
cobra...  
**  
 _The world gets dropped, left covered in rust._  
 _We'll rule it with an iron fist_  
 _behind a drum beat...again!_

The song then sped up quickly. Diana held onto her voice tightly, trying to deliver her vocals as melodically but rapidly as possible. She kept up the pace as Akko and Amanda played a slick tapping riff in unison.

 _It's all over you motherfuckers!_  
 _The moral to story is shit to a rug,_  
 _two fingers up if judgement comes_  
 ** _and one keg stand  
for satan!_**

 _Weak hearted sorry fakers,_  
 _in times of danger_  
 _ **they just fold up and run.**_  
 _If you are, you are_  
 _dead weight!_

 **cobra...  
cobra...  
** **cobra...**  


 _Dead weight!_

 **cobra...  
cobra...  
cobra...  
**  
 _Infection spread like iron to rust_  
 _the cure for the disease_  
 _like chain links surrounded me._  
 _Sometimes they are._

 _Weak hearted sorry fakers,_  
 _in times of danger_  
 ** _they just fold up and run._**  
 _If you are, you are_  
 _dead weight!_

At that line the song slowed down into a staccato, almost broken sounding section.

 _And we might just show the world_  
 _the hopeless anger in us._  
 _Every other day is just more time to kill. We want to wake_  
 _to find the sound_  
 _in aching waves from our heart._  
 _Nevertheless, we're just staring at a wall._  
 **Manners , missed conscience**  
 **where are you now?**  
 _Left staring at a wall._

 _ **Before that sound**_  
 _forces us to stop, drop, and run,_  
 ** _Hear me now_**  
 _or watch the bodies pile!_

 _Weak hearted sorry fakers,_  
 _in times of danger_  
 _ **they just fold up and run.**_  
 _If you are, you are_  
 _dead weight!_

 _When all the monumentous_  
 _lecherous imitations you pull off_  
 _start wearing off_  
 ** _to show what you are.  
If you are, you are  
_** _dead weight!_

With a quick grasp of her Les Paul and Amanda of her Schecter the song ended and everyone looked around at each other. They were still silent. The wait seemed agonizing for Akko. Silence was never something she dealt with well and she went to speak up. But before she could, her red haired bandmate spoke first.

"Hell yeah!" Amanda cheered with a fist pump. "That was sick!"

"I agree," Sucy said with a small smile, about the biggest Akko knew she could give sincerely. "It was pretty fun."

"Told you these new songs were absolutely killer!" Akko reminded everyone as she set her Les Paul down. She took time to marvel at her achievement. "It's fun playing this up tempo isn't it?" Akko watched Lotte reach down for a bottle of water, her forehead glistening with beads of sweat. "Well, I hope it's fun for you too, Lotte."

"Oh I'm fine," Lotte assured politely. "It's good to get pushed like this." She gulped the water down her parched throat. "Trust me, I'm doing well."

"Well I'm glad because the direction this album is going is sick," Akko said with pump of her fist.

She was all too thrilled of where things were going. The songs were fast and heavy, the perfect harmonious balance between punk and heavy metal that defined A Seed of Sorrow, but with a much sharper edge and a sense of speed that had not been consistently found in their music before. It was just what Akko had intended when she set out to write what Amanda had dubbed "the turbo warp drive album", nicknamed such for all the songs' high energy pace. Lotte and Sucy, especially Sucy, had taken to calling it "the coke and roids album", after the way the songs seemed to develop so furiously off of an implied drug binge. Diana just called it "the fast album", which made Akko gloom slightly but she was glad that the opera soprano turned punk rock vocalist was getting in on the fun.

Ever since the camping trip Akko noticed Diana making more conscious attempts to get along with the members of A Seed of Sorrow. She no longer said that songs Akko had come up with like 'I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz' or other incredibly vulgar songs that she had written in the pool of music that she had come up with were obscene. She showed no resistance to singing profanities, even if she didn't welcome it, and she was doing her best to match the vocal patterns with an equal balance of power and fun that Akko hadn't seen out of her. Her voice made the whole thing fit together perfectly, along with the push they got from the rhythm section now that Sucy was free to employ all the trickery in her bass playing arsenal and Lotte was unleashed in terms of raw speed. But Diana was still the icing on the cake that made it all an appealing package, and now she was getting in on the spirit of things in a way that made Akko smile.

In fact, Diana seemed to be doing more than a few things to make Akko more than smile, chief among them just how vulnerable Diana appeared in front of her recently. Akko thought for a moment about seeing Diana's typically intense and almost lethal gaze completely subdued in the parking lot when they had went to leave for their camping trip. It was something entirely unique to her. Seeing that side of Diana made her open her mind up to a side of Diana that she had never knew existed. Was Diana always this vulnerable and just covered it up so well with a sense of regality and dignified grace as to ensure Akko and the rest of the band would never have seen it? It raised some questions, but Akko appreciated that she got to see it. If she was honest, it was kind of the most appealing thing she had ever seen in Diana, maybe even more appealing than the voice she brought to the table and the somewhat imposing stage presence she brought with her to each gig. There were other little things too, like how Diana accepted the beer and didn't grimace and now wore her punk attire to rehearsals and not just whatever business like attire she wore before. The latter Akko thought made Diana look not just like she was fitting in, but also kind of cute if Akko was honest with herself.

She watched as Amanda again passed around the Blue Moon and Diana took hers readily and drank it slowly. Akko still felt Diana sort of nursed the bottles, but that was another thing she found kind of cute about the blonde singer. Now she was convinced she was going a bit crazy. Diana couldn't actually be this cute, could she?

"So everyone likes all of the songs so far I take it?" Akko asked as she sat against her Mesa cabinet. She sipped her beer.

"I know I do," Amanda said as she sipped her own beer. "I think we've written some great new shit. It's gonna be fun to lay it all down."

"Speaking of which, Akko," Sucy spoke up. "When do we leave for The Fountain again?"

"The Fountain?" Diana muttered perplexedly.

"The Fountain of Polaris," Akko pointed out before taking another swig of her beer. "AKA Polaris Studios. It's where we go to record our albums." She looked back over at Sucy. "We'll be going there soon. I just want to finish demoing out all the songs before we actually leave. I think I've only demoed about half of them so far."

The room was briefly silent for a moment before Diana spoke up. "So, if you don't mind me asking, just where is this Fountain of Polaris?"

* * *

"Colorado?!" Hannah exclaimed with a distressed look on her face. "You're going away to Colorado?!"

"It would appear so," Diana stated as she sat at her poolside table with Hannah and Barbara. "The studio is there and we're going to be there for at least two months."

Hannah felt her heart sink deep in her chest and her face go white with fright. She had come all the way to the Cavendish estate so Diana could explain just what was going to happen in the next few weeks.. She had already been practicing night in and night out on the new material with Akko and company, but now things were going to a whole new level that Diana didn't know if she was entirely prepared for but had to get ready for fast. Initially she had planned on doing it out for the night, so Hannah and Barbara could better absorb the shock of what she was about to explain over alcohol and some booming loud music, but she changed her mind right before they were due to arrive and decided she would just tell her two friends at home. She figured it wouldn't matter, since Barbara had revealed herself to be supportive of Diana's new habits and she knew Hannah would go along with whatever she said for the most part. She did not expect Hannah however to get so emotional over her news.

"But the summer has only just started!" Hannah protested sharply. She had to make her point come across as best she could to Diana.

"It's actually been going on for awhile," Barbara stated as she took a sip of the wine Diana had poured for them.

"Barbs!" Diana rolled her eyes at the way Hannah was acting. She couldn't believe her auburn haired friend was this hapless. Diana watched Hannah turn her attention back toward her. "Are you actually going to be away for that long, Diana? Can't you just come back to Dartmouth for a little while?"

"I'm afraid not," Diana stated calmly and with a sigh. Her friends seemed relentless. "I'm in the studio for the whole duration of the album's recording. I don't get any say as to whether or not I can come or go as I please."

"But that's bullshit!" Hannah exclaimed with a smash of her fist on the table. Both Diana and Barbara looked over at the auburn haired girl, whose hands were tightly clenched and her brow furrowed in distress. Quickly she realized the folly of her outburst. "Sorry," she said meekly.

"It sounds like you're trying to be a real team player," Barbara pointed out. "That's really nice of you to do that."

"Yeah but it's going to make life around here really boring for us, Barbs," Hannah groaned as she drummed her fingers on the table. "Diana, you're your own person. You can just leave and come back as you please, can't you?

"That's not the point, Hannah," Diana said as she threw her head into her hands, desperately wishing the auburn haired girl would quit pressing the matter already. "I'm doing this for Akko and…"

"Wait what did you say?" Hannah interrupted.

"You're doing it for Akko?" Barbara muttered perplexedly.

Diana froze in her tracks. She was doing it for Akko? Did she seriously just say that? She held her hand close to her chest and wondered just where that came from. What was the source of such a comment? She couldn't seriously mean such a thing. She was just trying to be a good bandmate, not go above and beyond for a teammate, right? Could that actually be so?

"I'm doing it for the whole band, not just Akko," Diana stated as she composed herself. "It's important that I stay put with them as long as they are recording. Besides, what if I want to stay?"

"You can't be serious, Diana," Hannah replied back with an open jaw. "You actually want to stay the whole time in Colorado? Aren't there bears all over the place there?"

"And isn't it really cold too?" Barbara questioned.

"Yeah why waste what is left of your summer in a cold state surrounded by bears when you could stay in Dartmouth by the coast? Seriously, there has to be a studio close by where A Seed of Sorrow can record, isn't there?"

Diana rubbed her temples. Entertaining the concerns of her friends sure was hard work. "I have no say in the matter of where we go to record, ladies," she explained. "Akko booked the studio time for us and we can't exactly change. Besides, we'll be in a city the whole time and I've never been to Colorado before in my travels. I am trying to be open minded and am looking forward to going somewhere I've never been to try something I've never done. Sure, I have been in studios to record librettos, but they were always with accompanying musicians who just played along. Going with a band is a totally different experience that I am eagerly looking forward to."

"Well I'm certainly glad that you're going away to do something you've never done before, Diana," Barbara stated as she sipped her wine. "I'm sure it will be fun for you."

"Well I demand that we're allowed to come visit you!" Hannah proclaimed. "We can't let Akko and company have you all to themselves while you're in Colorado."

Diana sighed again. She never thought going away would be this hard on her friends, and that they would make things this exasperating for her.

* * *

After all the weeks of practicing, demoing, practicing again, and demoing again it was finally time. Messing around was no longer an option. It was now do or die time. The journey started right here, right now, from the driveway of Amanda's house on Cherokee Street in New Bedford. Everything that A Seed of Sorrow had prepared for over the past several months had built up to this moment, a moment they could not possibly turn away from now. There was nothing that could possibly steer them away from all that they could achieve if they just seized this moment right here, right now, without any hesitation, without any second thoughts, without any…

"Are you just gonna keep staring off into space, Akko, or are you actually gonna help us load the van up?" Amanda called out.

Akko shook herself out of the trance that she had been caught in. She was so excited to begin this venture that she had completely drifted off into a sea of thought and wasn't even trying to help load up Old Unreliable with all their equipment.

"Coming!" she called back.

Once she packed up her Mesa amplifier head and hoisted her amp cabinet from the basement up to the van she went back to pack up her guitar and her effects pedals. Meanwhile Sucy and Amanda helped Lotte pack up her drums. As she packed up her gear she watched as a blue BMW X1 SUV pulled into the driveway of Amanda's house. Akko and company looked over to see Barbara Parker behind the wheel, with Hannah England and Diana sitting as passengers. They watched as Diana disembarked the BMW and grabbed a luggage case and a backpack out of the back before the other girls got out and followed Diana over to the van.

"So this is how you're going to get to Colorado?" Hannah remarked snidely as she looked at the van. "You know you could do so much better. Or do you just not have the money to do so?"

"Well last I checked you can't buy talent and that's what you need to make it," Akko shot back sharply. "Isn't that right, Diana?"

"Akko, please…" Diana groaned as she walked with her bags.

"Why?! Why shouldn't I say something? All she does is talk down to us and…"

"Akko, it's time to act like a punk rocker and pack up the van before we get going," Sucy called out as she lugged her Ampeg cabinet up into the van.

Akko clenched her fists and growled sharply at the auburn haired woman. She hated when people decided to be condescending toward her and the way she went about her business. Still, she knew it wasn't worth it. Sucy had made her point at the show back in Lowell, and she wasn't about to let the snobby sycophant that Diana kept in her company bring her down from how she was feeling. This was her time to bask in anyway.

She watched Diana sigh at Hannah's insult and set her bag down before going up to Akko. "Is there anything I can do?" the blonde questioned.

"You can start by keeping that jerk away from us while we load the van up," she asked. She looked back over at Hannah with a piercing stare. "But other than that I think we got things under control. Do you have everything for the trip out?"

"I'm all packed," Diana said. "I triple checked my belongings to make sure I was set."

Akko gave her a light smile and a nod, The thought of Diana checking over her stuff like a boy scout was highly amusing. She looked over at Hannah and Barbara, who were standing around in the night air. "The lap dogs don't listen when you tell them to sit and stay, I take it?"

"Akko!" Diana retorted sharply. Akko couldn't help but smirk. She had to get back at the auburn haired girl somehow. The black haired one was alright in her book, but still the fact that she followed Diana around so bad meant she wasn't all that much different from Hannah.

In short order the van was packed up and locked for the long trip ahead. The members of A Seed of Sorrow stood in a circle in the night air. Hannah and Barbara stood outside and watched as Akko pulled out a bunch of straws from her jacket pocket.

"Shortest straw drives first," Akko explained. The other girls nodded and reached in for their straws. Akko watched carefully as her bandmates looked at their straws and compared them to one another. Diana had one of the longest. Only Akko's was shorter. Amanda's sat in the middle, while Lotte and Sucy's were among the shortest, actually tying each other's in length. Sucy ultimately whipped out a coin and flipped it to see who would drive first. The coin decided that Lotte would be the one who would drive first.

"You gonna go say goodbye to your groupies, Princess?" Amanda snarked with her hand on her hip. Diana rolled her eyes and walked back over to Hannah and Barbara, who both had longing looks on their faces.

"I guess this is farewell," Diana said bittersweet smile. Hannah and Barbara looked at her the same before reaching over to envelope Diana in a tight hug. The blonde was caught off guard by the gesture, but returned it gently in kind. "I'll miss you both."

"We'll miss you too, Diana," Barbara replied.

"I'm gonna miss you the most," Hannah choked out of her throat, nearly on the verge of tears. Diana raised her eyebrows at just how emotional Hannah was. This wasn't something that was unusual for her ever since she had befriended Diana many years ago, so Diana didn't know why this excursion was any different. "Don't hesitate to let us come visit you. We'll be out there in a heartbeat."

"I'll be sure to let you know if that's possible," she assured Hannah. She remained embraced by the two girls for a few more moments before pulling away. "I must be going. Goodbye ladies."

"Have fun, Diana!" Barbara called out.

"We can't wait for you to come back!" Hannah shouted.

Akko watched the exchange and rolled her eyes. Hannah and Barbara were away more clingy than anyone she ever knew in her life. It was rather ridiculous. Thankfully for her sake she wouldn't have to deal with it anymore once they got on the road, which they were about to do now that Diana had embarked the van. With a turn of the key Lotte started Old Unreliable and they were off on their trip. Amanda and Sucy sat up front, Sucy sitting in the fold down middle seat while Akko and Diana leaned up against the doors of the van and fell asleep. Thirty hours of road trip laid ahead of them.

* * *

Thus far on the ride Diana's trip had gone swimmingly. She slept through almost all of the first six hours of the trip, which cut A Seed of Sorrow down Massachusetts, into Connecticut, and further south into New York and northern New Jersey. They made their first stop at the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, near the town of Phillipsburg, stopping for a quick breakfast and a driver change at a Wawa convenience store. Diana was careful to relieve herself and then make a cup of tea in the convenience store, standing in the company of working individuals such as truck drivers, paramedics, construction workers, and other types who were getting up and starting their day with coffee and cigarettes. She took careful note of these people at the stop.

At the next stop, somewhere near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, Amanda took over the wheel and drove the next six hours. Once again Diana saw more working class individuals along with traveling families who seemed weary on their journeys across the highways of the United States. The sight of all these different kinds of people made Diana curious, and she pulled a Moleskin notebook out of her backpack and began to toy with ideas in her head.

This musing was not lost on Akko, who stirred awake after a long stint of sleeping through most of the stops while Diana herself was awake and listening to opera tunes on her iPhone. Akko, wanting to have some fun at Diana's expense, reached over and pulled Diana's expensive pair of wireless over ear headphones off of her head in a manner that shocked the blonde and made her drop her notebook. "What are you doing?" Diana questioned.

"Diana, it's time!" Akko proclaimed.

"Time for what?" she asked with a furrowed brow.

Amanda held up the communal iPod in her hand and went to press play on the song. "Time for Domination!" Amanda shouted. Diana raised her eyebrow at the odd proclamation but wasn't allowed to think on it before three cymbal hits gave way to a loud heavy metal riff that had every member of A Seed of Sorrow except her banging their heads. Diana had to cover her ears as the song picked up speed. The volume was so loud that Diana could swear that she would be able to hear the song if she was outside of the vehicle traveling at speed on the highway. She remained with her ears covered by her elbows until Akko went to sing the song. Diana then decided that even with Akko's voice she couldn't take it anymore, and shouted Akko's name at the top of her lungs.

Amanda paused the iPod and watched as the other members of A Seed of Sorrow, even Sucy, laughed at Diana's reaction to the loud music. "I guess we know that you aren't a fan of Pantera eh, Princess?" the redhead remarked.

"Not at that volume," Diana stated poignantly. She shook her head and huffed before going back to her notebook and her opera music. Akko again pulled her headphones out of her ear. "What, Akko?"

"Whatcha doing?" Akko questioned childishly, glancing over at the notebook that Diana had in her hands.

"I'm writing something, if you must know." Akko raised her eyebrows and looked at Diana curiously. "What?"

"What are you writing, Diana?" the Japanese girl questioned.

"It's nothing of your concern," Diana replied harshly. Quickly she had realized the tone in which she had spoken and looked back over at Akko, who had a look on her face that indicated she was stung by the venom Diana had projected in her voice. "Sorry, it's just something very personal is all."

"No no it's okay," Akko replied in a downtrodden tone. "I was just curious is all. I didn't mean to be a jerk."

"Oh. Well thank you," Diana stated courteously. She looked over at Akko and still saw the Japanese girl frowning and looking away bashfully. "Maybe I'll show it to you when I'm done."

Diana watched Akko's eyes go wide with glee. "Really?! You will?"

"Maybe, the keyword is maybe I will, Akko," Diana repeated. Akko nodded her head and Diana shook her head, though inwardly she was mildly amused. Akko could be so childish and Diana was surprised to find that she didn't always find it exasperating. On the contrary, sometimes she found it amusing. "Do you understand?" Akko nodded her head up and down rapidly, making Diana turn back to her work for a moment before she realized she had a question she wanted to ask. "Say, Amanda, where are we?"

"Where are we?" Amanda parroted. "That's a good question, Princess. Um…" She poked at the smartphone with the Waze app. "We're somewhere in Illinois, that much I'm certain. Beyond that I don't know much else."

Diana raised her eyebrow. Were they already that far away from coastal Massachusetts? It hadn't seem like much time had gone by at all. "Are you serious?" Diana questioned. "How long have we been driving for?"

"Not counting bathroom breaks and food stops we've been on the road for about sixteen hours," Sucy explained. "We still got another fourteen or so left to go."

"And what is our plan for the rest of the day?" Diana questioned.

"Keep driving," Akko replied. "We still gotta get to Colorado and we can do it all in one sitting like we've done in the past."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Diana exclaimed. "You're going to do this drive all in one sitting? What about if we want to shower and maybe sleep in a bed? What are we going to do then?"

"Diana, I've explained this to you before, we don't have the money to stay in a hotel," Akko stated, this time in a less condescending manner than the first time she had explained it to the blonde. Diana still wasn't convinced. "Look, it's just the way it is."

"I didn't raise any protest when you refused my offer on our way to Stafford but now I'm not going to withdraw it so easily," she explained. "We have been on the road since midnight and have been driving straight through the day. You haven't even driven the van yet. Lotte, Amanda, and Sucy must be incredibly tired after all the driving they've been doing." The other three girls remained silent. "I want to get out of the van for more than just an hour, walk around, and take an actual shower tonight in a place other than a truck stop. So I'm proposing, no I'm actually insisting, that we stop for a hotel."

"With what money?" Akko shot back. "I already told you we don't have any money, and I'm not stopping to get a hotel just for one member."

Now Diana herself couldn't help but be absolutely dumbfounded at just how ridiculous Akko was being. "One member? You really think I was going to make you pull over and stop at a hotel just for me? You really think that was the case?" Diana paused and shook her head. "My goodness, Akko, I was suggesting I purchase a night at a hotel for all of us. I think we could all use a break and an opportunity to sleep in a warm bed with a hot meal."

"That doesn't sound too bad actually," Lotte interjected. "I'd be all for that."

"I think I would like that too," Sucy said in her typical plain tone

"I wouldn't mind it at all," Amanda stated. "I think it'd be good to get off the road for a bit."

"Aww come on we've done this drive before and never stopped at a hotel," Akko protested. "Do we really have to stop?"

The members of A Seed of Sorrow went silent, putting Diana and Akko at a standstill. The impasse they were at pitted silence against silence, a clash of two wills to see who would relent and go with the other's plans. And strangely enough Diana didn't want to take part in it. As much as she wanted to stop and take a break, Diana didn't want to get into a fight with Akko, and not because she was tired. She was about ready to withdraw the demand before she saw Akko's face go to a frown and her head hang low. It was a graceful surrender.

"We can get a hotel," the Japanese girl relented. The other members of SOS breathed out a sigh of relief and happiness, looking forward to the night that they would be spending out of the van and in a soft bed. Diana actually frowned at the sight. She only wanted to make things easier for Akko and her company. Now she felt like she had done the exact opposite.

* * *

Of all the places Diana could possibly pick of course she picked a race track resort casino to stay in. Akko should have known better. It only made too much sense. It was just the kind of high class establishment, the classiest establishment to be exact, that one could find just off the concrete leyline carrying them across rural Illinois. They couldn't just go to some Super 8 or other chain motel; they had to go to Cape Giradeau racetrack and Resort Casino, right near the border of Illinois and Missouri.

After walking through the bright neon lights of the casino and to the desk to check into the room Diana had booked Akko only wanted to sigh. She held this sigh all the way as they went up to the room. It was only when Diana unlocked the room did her expression change. Diana hadn't just got some regular old hotel room for A Seed of Sorrow to stay in. On the contrary, she had picked out the "Presidential Quarters", a three room suite that was complete with three separate bedrooms and a jacuzzi along with an expansive living room space to relax in.

Okay, Akko thought. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. Still, she wasn't about to get too comfortable. As far as she was concerned this was a one time deal. Still, she couldn't help but snap a quick video of the space and upload it the official SOS Snapchat profile for people to see.

The other women seemed more than happy for their accommodations. Lotte and Sucy quickly picked out a room for themselves, while Amanda called shotgun on getting a room to herself. This left Akko and Diana in an interesting predicament; the prospect of sharing a bedroom. Akko felt her heart do a somersault at the thought.

"You know what you can have the room," Akko said bashfully. "I'll just sleep on the couch."

"Are you sure?" Diana replied.

"Y-yeah," Akko stammered. "It's fine." She felt like she dodged a bullet potentially sleeping with Diana, an activity she wasn't sure why she was so nervous over. She went to set her bag down near the sofa and sat down.

After settling down Amanda found a local pizza joint and called in a pizza along with garlic knots and a salad for the band to eat. Lotte and Sucy went out and grabbed some beer and liquor from a local liquor mart. Akko and Diana stayed back in the room. At first the two remained awkwardly silent, but that didn't last for long.

"So do you like to gamble?" Akko asked as she sat on the couch.

"Oh no not really," Diana said. "I don't believe wagering my money on chance is a worthwhile investment. I have dabbled occasionally into off track betting but I no longer engage in the pastime."

"Why'd you stop?" Akko asked as she flipped over on the couch.

"I'm firmly against horse racing from an animal welfare perspective," Diana stated as she sat across from Akko in an armchair. "The drugs they dope injured horses up on, the cruelty by which the jockeys treat the animals, it all just disgusted me after awhile. I understand that champion thoroughbreds are treated well but the sport is full of so much seediness and corruption that I just couldn't stand it anymore, and I come from a family that owns race horses and tries to do things right. Regardless when I take over the Cavendish estate I plan to sell off that part of our estate."

Akko nodded her head. Taking over a whole estate was something she couldn't imagine herself ever doing, especially given the fact that Akko didn't come from nearly as wealthy a background that Diana came from, not that she ever grew up with money being an issue to her knowledge. If only it was the same for her in the United States.

Eventually the pizza arrived and Lotte and Sucy came back with a selection of liquors and beer; the band's standby Blue Moon along with some Smirnoff Vodka, Kraken rum, Jose Cuervo Tequila, and a few bottles of Coca Cola, cranberry juice, and tonic water as chasers. They even got lemons and salt for tequila shots. After unpacking all the liquor and setting up the pizza, the women of A Seed of Sorrow gathered around with paper cups gathered from the bathroom as Sucy poured vodka shots and they stood in a circle.

"To the album, ladies," Akko said as she raised her cup up in the air. "May it kick ass and go down in underground infamy as an absolute ripper."

"Here here," Diana said with a roll of her eyes. With that every one of them downed the vodka and slammed the cups into the table. Diana coughed as the liquor went down her throat. "My goodness that is strong!"

"I know right?" Akko gasped as she came down from the burn in her throat. "That's some hard stuff."

"Who wants to do a round of tequila shots?" Sucy proposed with an insidious smirk on her face. Akko looked over at Diana, who was swallowing at the sight of drinking more liquor at the hands of Sucy.

"Why don't we wait on the tequila shots and do something else," Akko proposed as she went to get a slice of pizza.

"What do you suggest beyond doing another round of shots and getting completely wasted?" Amanda questioned as she opened up a bottle of Blue Moon for herself.

Akko looked about the room curiously for a sign of something to do. It didn't take her long. Nestled on the table where Sucy had set the liquor upon was a complementary deck of playing cards. Akko walked over and picked up the deck before showing it to the girls and proposing they play a simple game of moneyless poker.

"Well that's boring," Amanda said. "We gotta spice it up a little bit." The redhead paused and then a nefarious smirk grew across her face. "And I got just the idea?"

"And what's that?" Akko asked as she ate her pizza.

"Two words, ladies. Strip poker."

At the sound of those words Akko nearly choked on her pizza and the beer she was using to wash it down, and she wasn't alone. Lotte and Sucy nearly spat out their slices, and Diana went almost completely pale. Akko looked around at her fellow bandmates and friends in the room. Surley they wouldn't go along with the idea of playing strip poker, now would they? She could count on the fact that Diana would refuse, but she wasn't sure about Sucy and Lotte. The bespectacled Finn in particular was increasingly becoming a wildcard with all the drinks she was ingesting, which quickly went against her light weight and got her rather tipsy.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Amanda proposed lasciviously. "It's not like anyone will be watching either. We're all just girls and we all know what each other's bodies are supposed to look like, so nothing will be weird about it. Lets just give it a go."

"I-I-I think it'll it'll be fun," Lotte spoke in circles. Sucy went and put her hands around the orange haired girl to prevent her from falling over.

"I guess I'm in," Sucy stated. "Not like I have anything better to do." Akko sighed in exasperation. Now she had to go along with it per the communal rules she had set for the band. On small matters like this the majority always won out, and so far the majority was turned firmly against her and Diana, and Akko had her reasons for not wanting play.

"I'll play," Diana stated firmly.

"Eh?!" Akko let out of her mouth. "You're really gonna play?!"

"I have a feeling that if I don't play I'll never hear the end of it," Diana sighed as she walked over to the couch and sat down with her beer. "So I might as well get it out of the way. Besides, I suppose this is all just being part of a band, isn't it?"

"Not necessarily," Akko said nervously as she took her seat in a chair across from the sofa. "But I'm glad that you're in the spirit."

"Can we get this going, Amanda?" Diana asked. "The faster we can get this done the faster I can go to bed without any incident."

"Yeah yeah, Princess," Amanda sneered as she took out the deck of cards and began to shuffle them. "Now the rules are simple. Whoever's turn around the table will put in a piece of clothing, and it can be any kind of clothing. Clothing can be wagered at any time and doesn't need to be matched. If one so pleases they can fold and not wager any clothing whatsoever. Simple enough?" The other women nodded their heads and leaned in to the table. With that the cards were dealt and the game began.

There was a lot of folding in the initial couple rounds, but eventually the game began to pick up speed. To the surprise of almost everyone in the room Lotte was the one who was actually winning despite her inebriated state, collecting every kind of article of clothing from Sucy's shoes, Amanda's socks, the small beaded wristband Akko wore around her wrist that was a piece of merchandise from her favorite musical artist of all time, and even Diana's golden necklace. From there it didn't take much longer for actual clothes to be piled on, and Lotte continued to rake in the winnings. Akko continued to fold, not wanting to strip down any further than the socks and bracelet she already had given up. She was deeply nervous about doing anything else.

Eventually it was her turn to put some clothes into the pot. Nervously she pulled down the pants she had been wearing and put them into the pile, revealing a pair of red boy shorts that she was wearing underneath. Amanda wolf whistled at the sight of Akko being down to her underwear on her bottom, even though her underwear was far from sexy. Lotte and Sucy didn't seem to show any reaction and simply folded their hands. Amanda continued on and put a necklace that she wore around her neck into the pile. Then it came back over to Diana, and remarkably the heiress didn't fold. She merely took the fancy watch she had on her wrist off and put it into the pile.

Shit, Akko thought. Now she had to wager. Nervously, she took the one article of clothing that she still had left other than her underwear, the infamous "Balls" t shirt that she had wore when Diana and her first met and put it into the table, revealing her simplistic bra covering up rather small breasts that Akko was deeply embarrassed by. More than anything in the world outside of the band getting bigger Akko wished she had more in the chest department.

Amanda was forced to put in her own shorts and reveal a pair green panties, putting the pants into the pile. When it went back to Diana Akko expected her again to fold. Diana was now down to her shirt and her pants, and there was no way that Diana would ever take those off. But much to Akko's surprise, Diana pulled her arms up and slipped her white shirt up over her arms and put it onto the table. And with that Diana revealed the most perfectly shaped bust in what Akko found to be the sexiest bra she had ever seen in her life to the entire room. While Lotte, Sucy, and Amanda didn't bat an eyelash, Akko wasn't so stoic on the matter.

That's when she found herself in a massive predicament. "I'm folding!" Akko called out quickly as she slammed her cards down on the table. But before she could let that slip by Amanda picked up on something that she simply couldn't ignore.

"Akko, are you staring at Diana's chest?" Amanda snickered.

Both Akko and Diana's jaws fell open and they looked over at each other. Akko expected to be brutally scolded and left out to dry for what she had been doing. And yet Diana remained silent, not even muttering a word after Amanda had outed the Japanese girl for just what she was doing to the blonde heiress. And even though she looked shocked, something was off about the way Diana was staring Akko down. It was nothing like what Akko expected.

"I was not!" Akko quickly blurted out. "I was...I was…" Akko needed something to say. "I was staring at Diana's...I was staring at her bra! That's right, I was staring at her bra, not her chest!"

Lotte felt her head fall flat onto the table and Sucy face palmed herself while Amanda began to laugh boisterously. Akko nervously glanced over at Diana, who had a shade of pink running across her cheeks and nose and, most surprisingly to Akko, wasn't even bothering to cover up her chest. Her jaw still hung open and there was an almost cruel silence between the two of them, but she wasn't necessarily protesting the way Akko thought she would. Regardless, Akko had clearly demonstrated she was badly afflicted with foot in mouth syndrome.

"Sounds like you were staring at her chest," Amanda replied with a shake of her head.

"I was only staring at her bra!" Akko repeated sharply. "It's a really sexy bra, that's all!"

"Oh it's sexy now isn't it?" Amanda purred lasciviously. "And I suppose how red your face is tells just how you really feel about Diana's 'bra' now doesn't it?"

"Amanda!" Akko shouted. She covered her face and went to look away, but nothing could take her eyes off of the lacy white bra in front of her. It had a highly ornate lace pattern with ribbons covering its clasps, an expensive piece of lingerie befitting for a woman of Diana's social class and personal net worth. It perfectly cupped Diana's chest, making her appear immaculately shaped. Akko still couldn't take her eyes off of it, and by now everyone other than Diana was noticing how hard Akko was staring at Diana's chest through her hands. "I'm just a bit drunk is all, and you know we Japanese people get red in the face when we're drunk. But I still think Diana has a really sexy bra. That's all I was looking at."

Sucy again face palmed herself and Lotte let out a muffled sigh from the pile of clothing her face was buried in. All of them expected Diana, who was still frozen in place, to cover herself up and scold Akko furiously. But instead she only muttered something that took everyone off guard.

"I appreciate the compliment, Akko," the blonde said bashfully. Now it was Amanda and Sucy's turn to drop their jaws, looking over at Diana with wide eyes. Diana was now blushing like a tomato and nervously holding her fingers over her mouth. Akko couldn't believe her ears. Diana actually appreciated what Akko was doing? She must be sick. Something had to be wrong.

With that Amanda decided that the strip poker game had gone on long enough and everyone should get some sleep. Akko was thankful that the game ended and went to go put her clothes on, but not before again taking a glance at Diana's 'bra' once again.


	11. To The Mountains

**AN: Alright, I got it out before Thanksgiving. I was glad to get another speedy update in. Thank you free time and the google docs cell phone app for making writing a little bit here and there easy.  
**

 **No songs appear in this chapter, the first in awhile where none appear, thus giving you guys a break from A Wilhelm Scream. I'm glad to hear that so many of you have taken a liking to them just from listening to this story.**

 **I also want to mention that any band that I reference in this story is an actual band, so feel free to check all of them out! Some of them might even help you better understand the setting of this story.**

 **Please critique as always and thank you for the support!**

 **-Symbiotic**

* * *

She appreciated the compliment?

Akko couldn't sleep after the game of strip poker. Too many thoughts wracked her mind as she laid upon the rather uncomfortable couch that she had elected to sleep on. She couldn't stop thinking about why she ever went along with Amanda's machinations, which seemed purposely intended to get the kind of incident and reaction that occurred to happen. She felt she should have put up more resistance, said a harder no, just something that let Amanda know she was not comfortable playing strip poker. And above all she couldn't stop thinking about chests. She hated that she let it be seen how insecure she was over the fact that she had to reveal her chest to Diana. Her bust was her bust and there was nothing that could be done about it, so why did she honestly care what anyone in her band really thought about it? But her thoughts on Diana's bust, perfectly shaped and perfectly held in the lacy bra that the blonde was wearing. Akko could not take her mind off of that.

She wondered for a moment what it would be like if she undid the straps on that bra and…

Nope, she thought. I'm not going there, not going there at all. Why she would even bother going there was completely unknown to her. She had never felt that way about anyone, male or female. Looks were not something she ever even considered in almost anyone she came across, especially after she dove headfirst into the underground world of punk rock music that she navigated like a modern day wayfarer. Why start thinking about them now, and with Diana of all people? Surely Diana wasn't that pretty, was she?

Who was she kidding herself. Of course Diana was that pretty. She had to be for her profession. No one put hideous opera singers on the stage to serenade the kind of upper crust individuals that Diana performed in front of night in and night out when she was with opera companies. In punk rock you could get away with having a look and body type that was not of the idealized standard that society set upon on people, a standard which especially applied to women like Akko. In opera you had to look the part to even get a chance to play the part. But the real question was why in the world did she even care that Diana was actually as pretty as she was. She wasn't supposed to care one iota. It wasn't supposed to matter in the world of punk rock. But Akko actually cared about it. She was obsessing over it in the night that she slept.

And she obsessed about why Diana took Akko's staring as flattering and saying that her bra was sexy was a compliment. What in the world was that about? Was Diana being serious? There was nothing to indicate she wasn't being serious, but body language was something that Akko knew could always be misinterpreted. Akko could have screwed up badly in thinking that Diana actually meant what she said. Not being certain about the matter was keeping her awake and massively frustrating her.

She was able to shove the thoughts aside and go to sleep for about three hours before a loud alarm set by Amanda stirred everyone awake. They each took turns taking a shower, a shower which Akko welcomed because the scalding hot water helped wake her up from her lost sleep. She desperately needed a caffeine fix of some kind to get her awake.

The group packed up their belongings and went on down to the cafeteria for the complimentary breakfast. Akko watched as Lotte filled her plate with loads of greasy food like bacon and breakfast sausage, badly hung over from the previous night. The rest of the women sat down around the table.

"How are you feeling, Lotte?" Diana asked curiously.

"My head is going to split in two," the bespectacled Finn moaned in agony. Akko winced.

"Well eat some of that bacon," Amanda ordered lightly. "All that grease will be good for you."

"I heard that eating fatty food doesn't actually do anything to cure a hangover," Diana stated as she scooped up some yogurt and fruit from a makeshift parfait she had fashioned herself.

"Well shit you're an opera singer and a doctor too? You astound me every day, Princess," Amanda remarked.

Diana furrowed her brow and looked away. Lotte only groaned and bent over the table to eat her breakfast. Akko ate her food slowly, taking small glances over at Diana from across the table. At one point Diana actually locked eyes with her, but for some reason decided not to press the matter. Akko tried to be more subtle, but it wasn't so easy. Diana seemed as perceptive as she was beautiful. Beautiful, Akko thought. That wasn't something she would have ever even said a few weeks ago, but now she was thinking it?

That game of strip poker must have opened up a whole can of worms that Akko wanted to shut. Everything was quickly becoming too confusing. Akko was having a hard time digesting it all. Nothing seemed to make sense in this twisted game of feelings.

"So what is the plan today, ladies?" Diana questioned.

"Keep driving," Akko said. She sipped on her orange juice. "We got about fourteen hours left."

"That's a lot of ass hauling to do," Amanda pointed out. She wagged her fork at Akko and Diana to make her point. "A lot of time also for also for Akko to…"

"If you say what I think you're going to stay I will stab you in the throat, Amanda," Akko threatened, a blush coming across her face as she gnashed her teeth

"Jeez, can't a girl have a little bit of fun at her bandmate's expense?" Amanda sighed. Akko huffed and went back to eating her eggs and bacon, watching as Diana similarly ate her yogurt and drank her tea from a similar position. Both girls had had enough of the redhead's antics, and Akko really wanted to put the damn strip poker game behind her as quickly as she could. "But yeah, who's driving today?"

"I am," Akko declared as she set her silverware down. The members of SOS all looked at their leader, who had bags under her eyes and whose hair was still disheveled despite a shampooing and hot shower. "I'll take the first shift."

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Sucy questioned.

"She was probably spending too much time thinking about…"

'AMANDA O'NEIL!" Akko shouted. Everyone at the table, everyone in the cafeteria, and even some early gamblers trying their luck at the penny slots looked over at Akko, who was now standing with her teeth clenched tightly and her hands balled up in fists with her shoulders sagging up and down in deep, labored breaths. "For your information, sleeping on that couch was no better than sleeping on the floor. I thought all night about just going inside Old Unreliable and sleeping in one of the seats because it was so rock hard. So no, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night because I was spending too much time thinking about how I was laying on a medieval torture chamber table masquerading as a sofa and not about anything related to anyone's body or something along those lines, got it?"

The monologue Akko delivered made everyone blink, Sucy accompanying the blinking with a roll of her eyes. It did what it was intended to though, getting the conversation back in Akko's hands so she could continue on with her meal in peace. "I just need a Red Bull or something and then I'll be good to go for the rest of the day. Besides, Lotte's in no condition to drive and both you and Sucy put in a lot of hours on the road. I can make it to Colorado in one piece."

"You want to make a friendly wager before we leave the casino?" Amanda proposed with a sly grin on her face.

"Whatcha got?" Akko said as she chewed on an egg. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Diana wince at how she was talking with her mouth full, which made Akko rather embarrassed.

"I bet you twenty bucks and a pack of Blue Moon you can't drive all the way to The Fountain today," Amanda stated assuredly. She put out her hand to shake. "Deal?"

"Akko, know what you're getting into here," Diana began. "She is asking you to drive the entire fourteen hours by yourself, no help whatsoever." Akko raised her eyebrow. Was Diana actually sticking up for her? Where was that coming from? "And honestly I can tell just like everyone else here that you didn't get enough sleep last night. So I really don't think you should be taking up Amanda on this wager."

"But if I don't I'll never hear the end of it!" Akko groaned loudly. She threw her head back in her chair. "This is such bullshit."

"It's only bullshit because you're making it bullshit," Sucy pointed out as she took a bite of a bagel with cream cheese. "Like Diana said, just say no. You don't need to do it."

"What if I made it a hundred bucks?" Amanda proposed.

Now Akko's eyes went wide, as did everyone else's at the table, even the incredibly hung over Lotte's. And then Akko felt something that she never thought she would feel before; Diana placed her hand atop hers. Akko felt the blood rush to her face.

"Akko, think this through," Diana said carefully. "You always say you don't have any money to spare and Amanda is asking you to essentially wager $120.00 on a bet that you can physically and mentally push yourself for fourteen hours straight. Do you really want to put yourself up to that?"

Akko looked down at Diana, whose piercing cerulean gaze now bore signs of concern and an almost pleading look to get the Japanese girl to reconsider what she was thinking of doing. The gaze made Akko think for a moment about what she could be getting herself into. Was this really worth the amount of money that it amounted to, even from the potential earnings she could rake in if she successfully met the terms of the wager? Thoughts raced through her mind as she went back and forth between both the proposition of backing down or taking up the bet. Back down or take it up, back down or take it up. Back down. Take it up.

"You got a deal!" Akko proclaimed with a hearty handshake. "Now let's' get on the road. We got a long day ahead of us."

* * *

Much like Akko Diana spent her fair share of the previous evening thinking about the game of strip poker. She thought about why in the world she ever challenged Amanda with the bet of her shirt; it wasn't as if there was any money to be won in the game. And most of all she was almost bitterly confused as to why she didn't care at all that Akko was staring at her chest. It was certainly flattering to know that one of her bandmates found her attractive, but in that manner it was rather mortifying. But still, she welcomed it? What had gotten into her? Sure Akko was more than a voice but why in the world was she not upset that Akko was staring at her chest?

She had resolved to move on from the incident and focus on her writing. She had a lot of ideas bouncing around in her head and she resolved to not let the incident from last night and the fact that Akko was blatantly staring at her chest bleed their way into what she was trying to create. For now she sat back in her tight seat, a cooler in between her and the still badly hung over Lotte, fiddling with thoughts in her Moleskin notebook while listening to Sam Wanamaker's production of Verdi's Aida with Luciano Pavarotti and Margaret Price. Calmly she reached into the cooler and pulled out a bottle of water and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, one of many sandwiches that Akko had made for the trip, and had herself a little snack while she wrote down her musings and hummed some of her ideas to herself. Diana didn't know exactly what she writing, but it seemed musical enough. She had no idea what she would do with it, but she kept musing with it regardless.

Up front Akko, Amanda, and Sucy went about the business of piloting and doing additional navigation via a road atlas to accompany their smartphone. Amanda was fiddling around with her own smartphone to pull something up on youtube. She ended up playing some rock song at an obnoxiously loud volume that made Diana unable to hear her music even through her Bowers and Wilkins headphones.

Eventually the song stopped and Amanda turned in her seat toward the blonde. "What did you think of the the new Cavalera Conspiracy song, Princess?" Amanda questioned.

"Loud," Diana replied. "I thought it was loud. It's hard to digest music at the absurd volumes you choose to play it back at." She turned back to her work and continued to write away at her notebook. Amanda continued to stare at her from her overturned position in her seat. "Yes, Amanda?"

"You sure have your head buried in that notebook of yours," Amanda said. She put her finger on the notebook and bent the page down. "Whatcha doing in there?" Diana ripped it away and turned herself so her shoulder was facing Amanda. "Okay then, not to be fucked with right now."

"You're very rude," Diana shot back before sitting back in her seat.

"I was just curious as to what you were actually doing with that thing," Amanda stated. "I wasn't trying to be a bitch."

"Just let it go, Amanda," Akko grumbled from her position behind the wheel of Old Unreliable.

Diana raised her eyebrow at this. Was Akko actually defending her? She hadn't done that since the first rehearsal that Diana ever attended with A Seed of Sorrow. That was a surprise.

Eventually the hours went by and they passed through Missouri and into Kansas. Lotte eventually woke up from a long nap and her hangover finally dissipated. The members of SOS took two stops to go to the bathroom and grab a quick snack, Diana taking the chance to both relieve herself and pick up a cup of tea and some vanilla cookies. While she checked out from the rest stop she noticed Akko buying yet another Red Bull, this time in a larger can than the last. Diana raised her eyebrow at the purchase and looked up and down at Akko. Bags were hanging under the Japanese girl's eyes and veins were lining the edges of her corneas. She could also see Akko walking in a slightly hunched over posture. Diana wanted to speak up on the matter, but Akko appeared so determined that she didn't dare to bring it up.

It didn't take long though for Akko's state to come to a complete head. At first the drive was going smoothly enough as they began their trek into Kansas, but soon Diana found it hard to ignore even with her headphones the sound of horns honking around them. Curious as to why there was such a racket on the highway, Diana pulled her headphones off to be greeted with a most cruel surprise. Akko was swerving in between lanes, careening in between traffic in a swaying manner with her eyes blinking rapidly and her head sagged over the wheel. Up front Amanda didn't move an inch while Diana could plainly see Sucy clenching the door handle of the band van nervously.

Diana felt the van careen into the left lane and heard the horn of a truck blaring before she decided she had had enough. Seeing an exit coming up from the greater Topeka metro area, Diana made her move, reaching up to grasp the shoulders of Akko and Amanda. "Pull over," she demanded.

"What, and miss the train wreck that's going to…" Amanda began. Diana clenched her hand deep into Amanda's shoulder. "Ow ow ow okay okay okay I get it I get it!"

Akko pulled the van off the highway and into a small gas station in Topeka. While Lotte and Sucy went to go use the bathroom once again at the gas station's mini mart, Diana took her time to disembark the van and confront both Akko and Amanda.

"I've about had enough of both of you," Diana scolded them sharply. Amanda rolled her eyes before Diana got right up in her face. "How dare you endanger the lives of all of us just so you could get a hundred dollars and a pack of beer. Have you no shame?"

"Have you no sense of humor?" Amanda shot back, getting up in Diana's face. Both girls growled at one another and held up fists. Diana was sick of Amanda's shenanigans and couldn't believe she was thinking it but she was about ready to beat the redhead senseless.

"Guys guys guys!" Akko called out loudly. Both Amanda and Diana dropped their fists and looked over at their disheveled friend. "Look, we don't have time for this crap, okay? We still got at least nine hours left before we make it to The Fountain and I…" Akko yawned and hung her head. "And I gotta keep…"

"Oh no you aren't," Diana stated firmly as she moved away from Amanda and straight up to Akko. "You aren't driving another foot. You've already done enough."

"But I gotta…" Akko yawned. "Who's gonna...who's gonna drive the van…"

The wind ruffled the three girl's hair as they stood in the parking lot before Diana spoke up. "I will," she said without question.

Amanda doubled over into a bout of laughter. "You're gonna drive the van? Seriously?"

"I'm the only one who hasn't driven any meaningful distance, and if we're to reach Colorado I should bear my share of the burden it takes for us to get there," Diana stated. "So unless you plan on getting behind the wheel or either Lotte or Sucy want to drive than I'm going to be the one who drives the van from here till the end. So are you planning on standing in my way or not?"

Again silence permeated the space between the three women, only the sounds of the rushing city going past them making any noise as they stood in the breeze. But by the time Lotte and Sucy had come back out from the mini mart the course of action had already been decided. Akko groggily walked over to Diana, slapped the keys in her hand, and then climbed quietly into the backseat of the van, nestling herself up against the door. Amanda snickered at the sight. Growling, Diana reached into her wallet and pulled out a hundred dollar bill. Without hesitation she shoved it hard into Amanda's chest, so hard it made the redhead falter in her balance slightly.

"At least we'll all make it to Colorado in one piece," Diana stated sharply as she mounted the driver's seat of the van and turned the key. This was going to be a most interesting experience.

* * *

This could take some getting used to.

Sure, Diana was used to driving big vehicles; she daily drove a Range Rover of all things. But driving a GMC conversion van was a whole other league of different. With the rickety suspension sending bumps shooting up through the seat no matter how small they were or the fact that the whole vehicle seemed to squeak at even the slightest movement. And nothing could prepare Diana for the hefty, boat like steering and the perilous blind spots that made changing lanes in the van a hazard to all involved, including other vehicles.

No matter, Diana consoled herself. This is all for the good of the band. All she had to do was stay focused on the road and keep things straight. And so far Old Unreliable tracked straight and true. And Diana had the help of Lotte, who was sitting on the right side, to call out traffic if Diana wanted to get back into the other lane.

Amanda and Akko slept in the back, Diana appreciating the fact that the abrasive redhead was keeping her mouth shut for the time being. Still, an uncomfortable silence hung over the inside of the van. Normally Diana appreciated the quiet, but for some reason the silence bothered her in this instance. Plus, she had some questions she was eager to ask.

"Lotte," Diana began. The bespectacled Finn looked over at her. "Can I ask you something? Actually you too, Sucy. Can I ask you both?"

"Sure," Sucy replied while looking absently out the window.

"What is it, Diana?" Lotte asked.

Diana paused for a moment as she tried to figure out the best way to phrase this question. "How was A Seed of Sorrow formed?"

Lotte and Sucy looked over at Diana. "Why?" the puce haired girl

"Well I'm just curious. I haven't heard the story as to how the band actually got together."

Sucy nodded her head and leaned up against the door. "Lotte and I both moved to New Bedford when we were young and became friends in school not long afterward. Around the same time we started learning to play instruments. We used to little drum and bass shows for talent shows and Lotte's father's Unitarian church. From there we branched out into playing with other musicians. We played everything under the sun in those days."

"We both decided we were going to go to Luna Nova after high school," Lotte said. "It was close to where we lived and we both had interest in various arts. I wanted to go for music and Sucy wanted to follow her mother's footsteps and be a chef. It was there, on our first day, we met Akko."

"She was so beyond hapless and lost on her first day," Sucy mentioned in a deadpan tone. "She didn't know where anything was and kept going on and on about how she was here to be like Shiny Chariot…"

Diana froze at the mentioning of that particular artist. Shiny Chariot? Akko was a fan of Shiny Chariot? How could she have missed that? She thought for a moment and realized Akko never brought it up once. Why was that? Diana resolved she would have to ask Akko about that as soon as possible.

"Diana, is everything okay?" Lotte asked.

Diana shook herself as the van continued on down the road. "Yes," she stated. "Everything is fine." She shook herself again. "Please, continue on with the story."

Sucy nodded her head and began to speak again. "So we both met Akko on the same day at Luna Nova and it turns out we all got shoved into the same suite of a room at the school. Turns out she was there to study music, specifically music production and composition. She frankly struggled at both, having trouble wrapping her head around either subjects. She would always be turning to Lotte for help. Heck if it wasn't for Lotte Akko would have been suspended from Luna Nova within a year."

"Sucy!" Lotte shot back.

"What? You know it's true." The puce haired girl straightened herself out in her seat. "Anyway, Akko found out relatively quickly that Sucy and I knew how to play instruments, and she knew how to play guitar and sing, so we decided to form little bands. I think we went through at least a hundred names and styles before we settled on the name Tree of Leaves. Problem was we were absolutely terrible."

"That's not true!" Lotte retorted. "We didn't sound that bad. We just sounded...derivative, that's all. It wasn't like we were really awful."

"We were pretty bad," Sucy stated with a smirk. "Akko was always so nervous as a lead vocalist she would forget her lyrics when we took the stage. Not to mention we sounded so much like Shiny Chariot that we often got booed out of the room, because no one around Luna Nova took Shiny Chariot seriously despite the fact that she sold over a million records. That was a wake up call for Akko, but she never stopped trying. She always said she would be a great musician like Shiny Chariot, and wouldn't stop until she reached similar heights."

"Akko was devastated," Lotte stated. "She really thought if she practiced hard enough she could sound just like Shiny Chariot, but nothing she did could make us sound exactly the same. Thankfully she had this old professor in one of her music composition classes, Professor Woodward, who explained to her that she could never be exactly like Shiny Chariot. Instead, she had to forge her own path and come up with her own style if she was to succeed at being a musician."

"So after that Akko decided she wanted to change the kind of music that we played," Sucy explained. "If alternative rock wasn't going to work, we needed something else. One day the three of us were at a record store in Dartmouth and she found a copy of a Green Day album and fell in love with it, and I mean really fell in love with it. At that moment she decided that we were going to play punk rock, which Lotte and I hadn't played in years, but we decided to it because Akko was so enthusiastic about it. And it turned out we were a lot better at writing punk rock songs than we were at writing alternative rock songs. Problem was we again sounded derivative. We sounded just like any other pop punk outfit."

"So in one of her music production classes Akko met Amanda, who was attending Luna Nova part time," Lotte explained. "Amanda was really into heavy metal and she was a really talented guitar player, and Akko decided that was what we needed the most. Amanda came in and totally changed our sound."

"We started adding all the technical elements because of her," Sucy explained. "All the tremolo picking, all the scaled runs, Amanda taught Akko all that stuff. She helped Akko better grasp musical theory and helped her come up with some really cool songwriting ideas. Amanda also helped Akko change the name of the band to something a bit more fitting to our new style, thus A Seed of Sorrow was born. In no time at all we had moved away from sounding like the same old thing to something really kind of...cool. Really different. Kind of…"

"Exciting even?" Lotte said with a smile. "And we didn't have to worry about Akko forgetting her lyrics anymore because we found a singer who could handle all the vocals and Akko could focus on doing backing vocals, which added a whole other element to our sound." Lotte paused before remembering something.

"Soon we started playing shows in and around the New Bedford-Dartmouth area, and then we got offers to play in Providence, then in Connecticut, then New York, we just kept playing in wider and wider swaths of territory as time went on. We began skipping class just to go play shows," Sucy explained. "This was fine for Lotte and I, we finished up our degrees at Luna Nova on time. Amanda was only going to Luna Nova part time so it really didn't matter for her, but for Akko it began to really set her back. First it was one semester, than another, and another. The semesters just kept piling up."

"It didn't help that when we weren't playing shows Akko was working at a local gas station all in the name of making money for the band and for herself to invest into the band," Lotte explained.

Diana nodded her head as Lotte and Sucy told the story. She had no idea that Akko was so committed as to forgo her education to just make it as a musician. That was something she couldn't even say she did herself, though her own path was one that was unconventional to say the least. But that was nothing compared to way that Akko went about things. Working a dead end job just to save money? That was something that Diana herself could never say she experienced.

"Of course this was all tempered by Woodward, who helped make sure Akko got a lot of waivers for her academic struggles in the name of the artistic pursuit she had taken up with us," Sucy explained. "She argued that Akko was the personification of the spirit that Luna Nova desired in its students and that academic penalties shouldn't be imposed on her as long as she kept on playing shows and touring. But right before we got our deal with the label we're signed to now Woodward passed away, and with her death Akko lost all the waivers she had been getting to skip class just in the name of playing shows. So she was put on academic probation and had nowhere else to go."

"So what happened then?" Diana questioned.

Sucy shrugged her shoulders. "The band kept on going. Akko kept working her shitty job at the gas station, we kept practicing, and we kept playing more shows across the United States. We went and recorded the Mute Print album. Soon the offers were coming to play in Canada and Mexico, which we didn't know how we were gonna do but Akko pushed us, and we did it. Then we got offered to play in Europe, and we did that to. Then we recorded the Ruiner album, which we didn't think we could do. Then we got offered to play Australia and Japan, we played there too. We played with Pennywise, Anti Flag, Lagwagon, and more. Everywhere and every opportunity we got offered Akko found a way to make it work. She kept pushing us to when we said there was no way we could do it, a little band like ourselves trying to just cut out a piece of the underground. And Akko was always right. No matter what we did we always found a way to do it. And we've been doing it ever since."

"Until the singer quit," Lotte sighed.

Diana raised her eyebrow. Before she kept speaking she looked over in her mirror and executed a lane change to pass an eighteen wheeler lumbering down the highway in front of them. "Why did the original singer leave?" she asked as she settled back into the right lane.

Sucy made a slight tilt of her head and a shrug of her shoulders. "Akko and her had a disagreement about the vocals. Our original singer didn't like that Akko put so many backing vocals and so many parts where she wasn't singing into the music. There was a reason for that though. Akko wasn't that confident in her vocals for the direction we wanted to go. She didn't think our singer could keep up with us and where we were going as a band. So one day it all came to ahead and we had to choose between the singer and Akko." Sucy paused. "And we chose Akko."

Diana again nodded her head. She tried to imagine the exchange between Akko, the old singer, and the rest of the band, picturing it in the dank practice space in Amanda's basement. She envisioned a heated argument and the band having to make a choice, a choice which didn't necessarily disagree with after getting to know Akko over the past several weeks. Still, the story wasn't over.

"I can still remember the day that Akko came to us after she said she met you at her job," Sucy remarked with a sly smile. "Akko said at first she just got you to join the band, but I knew that was obviously a lie."

"Akko has a tendency to over exaggerate things at times," Lotte said sheepishly. "But sometimes she's absolutely right about new opportunities for us."

"Have you really toured internationally?" Diana questioned. "I mean I know you said you have and I don't want to say I don't believe you but…"

Lotte whipped out her cellphone and pulled up a picture for Diana to glance at. After making sure that there was no one ahead of her Diana looked down at the photo. It showed all the members of A Seed of Sorrow, old singer included, standing around on a street with four other guys with their arms around each other. Diana looked at the photo as closely as she could while she drove. "Those guys are Lofti, Fab, Phil, and Tim. They're in a band called Straightaway that's based in Paris. We play with them almost every time we go to Europe. That was from a show we did last year where they opened for us and we opened for Strike Anywhere."

Sucy pulled out her smartphone and passed it over at Diana to glance at. "Here's us and the guys from The Flatliners staying with Akko's parents when we toured Japan together," she explained. "That was a great tour thinking about it now."

Diana looked down at the photos impressed and smiled, thinking of how happy the members of A Seed of Sorrow, especially Akko, looked with their friends. Her heart did a somersault. She was a member of this group that had touched almost all corners of the world through their own battles and fights, and maybe one day in the near future she'd get to meet all of Akko's friends abroad, like the guys from Straightaway. Maybe one day she would get to tour Japan and meet Akko's parents. Would she have to prove herself that she was good in front of Akko's…

Why in the world did she even care about proving if she was a good bandmate or something to Akko's parents if she ever met them?

Shaking herself, she turned back to Lotte and Sucy. "So I guess my last question is...why? Why all this?" Lotte and Sucy both looked at Diana curiously. "I know that you all gave up stability and good livelihoods to do what you do. But why?"

"Why?" Lotte questioned. "It's not that hard to ask why when you think about all the cool things we've done because of Akko."

"Think of it this way, Diana. If it wasn't for Akko and her dream I would be a line cook working in some restaurant, beating myself to death in ten hour shifts where all I would do is come home and sleep every day," Sucy explained. "Instead I mean, sure, I have a boring ass dead end job that only pays enough for me to live, but I get to play bass and travel the world, hanging out with cool bands like The Flatliners and Straightaway. I get to see the world and do what I love night in and night out in places far flung away. I mean last year we toured India and it was one of the most exciting tours we've ever done." Sucy paused and shook her head. "Without Akko, my life would be pretty miserable."

Diana nodded her head in understanding. She had never considered the effect that Akko's life had on people like Lotte or Sucy. Akko brought them more than just a new lease on life, she brought them happiness. She brought them a sense of belonging, a sense of adventure, a zest for the unknown, that most people would never have brought to someone's life. Diana may have toured the world and played in many countries, but that was just what she did. No one ever rallied her to tour the world; her aunt Daryl largely arranged it for her to go from place to place. But Akko on the other hand, Akko pushed people to do things that had never been done. She longed to go out on the road and go to places that they had never been. Who had ever heard of a punk rock band drawing crowds in India of all places, especially one as frenetic and hard as A Seed of Sorrow? That was something that Diana even had trouble wrapping her head around.

She didn't have much time to think about it, for as soon as she went to think about it she felt a banging sound emanated from under the engine, coupled with a billowing white smoke coming out from underneath. Quickly, just like she had done with her Range Rover, Diana pulled off to the side of the highway, sitting the van next to a cornfield on a rural stretch of Kansas road. Diana turned her attention back to Akko and Amanda.

"Akko," Diana muttered as she shook on the Japanese girl's shoulder. "Akko, wake up."

"Mrgph hmph." Akko stirred a little and then sat up in her seat, stretching her arms up and letting out a yawn. "Did we make it to Fort Collins yet?"

"Not quite," Diana stated as she looked out at the hood of the van. "We seem to have some mechanical trouble."

"Oh boy," Akko groaned. She shook Amanda awake and pointed to the cloud of smoke coming from the engine. "It seems Old Unreliable is living up to her namesake."

"Shit," Amanda cursed. She dismounted her seat and got out of the van. "God damn I hope this isn't the timing belt."

Diana sighed and put her head on the steering wheel. Lotte, sensing that Diana somehow felt responsible for what had happened, rubbed the blonde's back while Akko and Amanda looked under the hood.

After about twenty minutes of standing on the side of the highway and checking under the hood the two girls poked their head out. "Well there's good news and bad news," Akko said. "Which one do you want first?"

"The good news," Diana said.

"The good news is that it wasn't the timing belt that went," Akko stated.

"And the bad news?" the blonde asked.

"It's the fan belt that went," Akko sighed. "And we don't have a way to replace it."

"Well surely that's not the worst news in the world," Diana said. "No matter, I can call for a tow and cover the repairs for us."

"That's not really an option," Amanda said as she closed the hood. " We're stuck on I-70 near the Kansas-Colorado border without any towns nearby. It'll take at least two hours for a tow truck to come out to us, and another two hours to get to a garage. And no one is going to be able to replace a fan belt quickly and we'd have to get a place to stay."

"Not to mention that would really deplete our budget," Akko sighed. "But I guess that's why we save up for these things."

"Unless…" Amanda paused and tapped her foot on the ground. "Hey, Princess, you wear pantyhose don't you?"

"I do…" Diana said curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Can you take 'em off for me?" the redhead asked.

Diana felt herself freeze at the thought of having to take off her panty hose. She was wearing another long pleated skirt and a blouse, and nothing was under the skirt but her panty hose and some lacy underwear she had underneath. She desperately didn't want to take them off, but it was clear she didn't have much of a choice. Nervously, she slipped her skirt off and, with a careful look around to make sure no one was coming, she pulled her pantyhose off and passed them to Amanda.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Akko, who was standing with her hands behind her back like a child who had been caught doing something naughty. And all Diana could do was chuckle a little. This was the girl who had brought her band around the world and that the others looked up to and respected so much?

After about an hour and a half or so of fooling around, Diana was given the cue to start the van. And with that the smoke stopped and the van appeared to run smoothly.

"Yeah!" Amanda cheered. "Way to go, Princess. Your underwear saved the day for us."

"Well good, can we get going then?" Diana questioned. "I believe the mountains await us."

The girls laughed before getting back into the van, but not before Akko put her hand on Diana's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for saving the day."

"Anytime," Diana replied back with a smile and a pat on the Japanese girl's shoulder. She watched Akko smile gently and smiled back as she got the van going back down the highway.

* * *

The drive continued without any trouble and provided Diana with a great view. Though they were only entering the flat plains area of Colorad, where ranching and farming were as prevalent as they were in Kansas, one could see the sight of the Rocky Mountains burning under a setting red sun for miles away. Diana marveled at the picturesque scene unfolding before her as they drove closer and closer to their destination.

When night descended over the plains the band made their way to Fort Collins. The town's rustic western architecture coupled with the many brew pubs caught Diana's eye, as well as the close proximity to Colorado State University created a unique atmosphere unlike any Diana had seen before.

Shortly after arriving in Fort Collins the Waze app went dark and Akko took over the navigating. After carefully following her directions, Diana pulled into a dirt driveway with two square shaped tan buildings attached to a small house. Outside of the building waiting the parking a woman with deep blue hair wrapped in a ponytail that hung around her shoulder. She wore a black hoodie and had golden hoop earrings along with a black choker, black leggings, and flat shoes. On her shoulder sat of all things a white bird with a star shaped yellow mark upon its chest. Diana stopped the van in front of the woman and shut it off.

Before she even had a chance to unbuckle her seatbelt Akko burst out of the van and ran up to the woman. Diana watched as she enveloped the woman in a large hug which she reciprocated, and the bird fly into Akko's face before Akko caught it with a hearty laugh. As the other members of SOS disembarked the van, Akko waved her hand over at Diana to come up and meet the woman face to face.

"Sensei, I'd like you to meet Diana Cavendish, the new singer for A Seed of Sorrow," Akko said with glee. "Diana, this is Ursula Calistis. She's gonna produce, mix, and master our album."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ursula," Diana said as she held her hand out.

"Likewise," Ursula said with a smile. The two shook hands until Diana felt a pointed sensation upon her foot. The bird on Ursula's shoulder was pecking upon her shoe. "Alcor!" Ursula went and picked up the bird sheepishly. "I'm sorry, that just means he likes you."

"It's no trouble at all," Diana said. "So I assume this place is yours?"

"Why yes it is," Ursula said as she looked over her shoulder at the tan colored buildings. "This is The Fountain of Polaris."

"Where we're going to lay down the sickest album ever!" Akko exclaimed with a pump of her fist. "I can't wait to show you the demos of our new songs, Ursula-sensei. I think you're going to love them."

"Well I can't wait to hear them and get started," Ursula replied.

Akko quickly called over all the members of A Seed of Sorrow came together in a huddle along with Ursula, where they all put their hands in the middle under the night air. "Alright guys, let's promise that we play tight, rip hard, and above all have some fun. What do you say? Are all of you in?"

"I am," Lotte said with a smile.

"I'm in too," Sucy stated.

"Bring it," Amanda said with a smirk.

"I suppose I'm in for this as well?" Ursula said with a smile. "And Diana, what of you?"

Diana smiled from ear to ear. "Let's go record a punk rock album, ladies." With that the members of A Seed of Sorrow and Ursula threw their hands in the air toward the sky, with Alcor fluttering up overhead. Diana looked over at the tan buildings behind them. She wondered and looked forward to what would come in the space they were about to enter.


	12. The First Session

**AN: Hi there! Thank goodness for free time at work and my beta reader, snitchxwitch. Without them this chapter would have taken a lot longer to come out.**

 **No songs by A Wilhelm Scream appear in this chapter.**

 **Please critique and thank you for your support as always!**

 **-Symbiotic**

* * *

Akko followed Ursula with her bandmates into one of the tan buildings sitting behind the the small house. Her heart was filled with glee as the blue haired woman opened the door and led them down the hardwood hallway. Akko couldn't help but smile as she walked through the familiar corridors, having become well acquainted with the space from the previous two times that she had been to The Fountain of Polaris. Coming back to this building was like returning to a home away from home for Akko, and she knew that everyone but Diana felt the same as well. She wondered how Diana would take to the space they would be staying in. She had accounted for Diana potentially not liking the environs they were going to be inhabiting during the creative process, but she had not come up with a contingency plan as to what to do if Diana was disgusted with the place.

Eventually Ursula led them down a hallway to two separate doors. The members of A Seed of Sorrow set their bags down as Ursula pointed in the direction between the two rooms. "Alright ladies, all of you know the drill. Three of you get one room and two of you get the other, so make your pick and I'll be waiting in my house with dinner. Sound good?" The five women nodded their heads and stepped aside for Ursula as she walked away with Alcor on her shoulder.

"Okay so it's already decided that Lotte, Sucy, and I will share a room just like we did back at school," Akko said assuredly. "So I guess that means that Diana and Amanda will…"

"Hold up there, Akko," Amanda interrupted. "I'm sorry but I'm not rooming with Princess."

Akko and Diana both raised their eyebrows and Diana scoffed at the assertion. "Excuse me?" the blonde questioned. "Who ever said that you and I would room together?"

"Yeah and where are you going to stay because I'm definitely sleeping in the same room as Lotte and Sucy," Akko asserted. "So it's either share a room with Diana or sleep on the couch. Have your pick I guess."

"Actually I have a better idea," Amanda proposed. "Why don't you share a room with Diana, Akko?"

Akko felt a chilling sensation tingle down her spine. Share a room with Diana? Was that really something that was being considered? Were her bandmates seriously going to leave her out to dry? She could imagine doing a lot of things and even slept in a lot of awkward places, but sharing a room with Diana? Just her and Diana in a bedroom together? That was something she wasn't sure she wanted to face down.

She looked over at Diana and saw an equally shocked look on the blonde woman's face. Akko was sure she could sense the chills coming off of Diana's being as they stood there in abject silence with their bags at their sides. "I…" Diana trailed off, her face growing rosy enough for Akko to see. She quickly composed herself and straightened her shoulders. "I don't see a problem with that arrangement."

Great, Akko thought. She was hoping that Diana would raise some kind of protest but now she was really backed into a corner. "I guess it's fine with me," she sighed. She picked her bag back up and turned back to Diana. "Come on, I'll show you what the room is like."

While the other ladies went into their bedroom too the left Akko opened the door to the right and showed Diana the bedroom. The room had walls painted in a relaxing shade of blue with a wrap around white molding lining the space. A few framed records from a variety of bands like Teenage Bottlerocket, Aquabats, and Good Riddance along with posters from various punk rock gigs. A bookshelf sat at one end of the wall lined with a variety of reading materials ranging from biographies to works of fiction. Two twin beds sat against the walls of the room, one near the window and one against the wall.

Akko stood in the room awkwardly with Diana. "You know which one you want?" she asked Diana.

"I'll take the one near the window," the blonde replied. Akko watched her pick up her bag and walk toward the bed. "I like having the sun and moonlight come through. I find it quite relaxing."

"I never would've guessed." Akk hefted her bag up onto the bed. She remained quiet for a moment as she opened it up and went to put her stuff away in one of the dressers in the room. "So are you really excited to be here?"

"You did hear me outside when we had our little huddle now, did you?" Diana questioned. "I assume my tone conveyed just how eager I was."

"I just wanted to make sure," Akko asserted, trying hard to cover up how she was really feeling about staying in a room with Diana. "I know a lot of this is still new to you and we're gonna be here for awhile, so I don't want things to be awkward or whatever."

"Then I assume we'll both take the necessary precautions to make sure neither of us makes things awkward for the other," Diana stated stoically. There was that composed stoicism again. Akko felt like she couldn't catch a break. "But if you must know I'm glad that we're finally here."

Akko turned around and put her hands on her hips, trying to appear confident and hide her flustered feelings from Diana as best she could. "Well I'm glad you're glad, because recording a punk rock album isn't exactly a walk in the park. It takes a lot of work and Ursula-sensei is going to push you really hard."

"Well I look forward to it then," Diana replied calmly as she unpacked her bags. "I take well to constructive criticism."

Akko sighed and threw her hands up. Diana wasn't revealing any weaknesses for her to exploit and make things awkward. And yet she actually found herself not that upset by what Diana told her. On the contrary she was finding herself increasingly filled with a greater understanding and respect for just what Diana was all about as they stood there and conversed in the bedroom. They had to get into the studio before Akko passed any judgments. She glanced over at Diana. The blonde was putting her clothes into one of the two dressers that the bedroom contained, neatly organizing her things by drawer. It was more than Akko would have ever done. She mostly planned on throwing things on the floor and picking them up as the piles got larger and larger. Organization was not one of her fortes and she didn't necessarily intend to change it, especially not because she was going to have to stay in a room with Diana for a little while.

Akko went about unpacking her bags for awhile before she heard the sound of a mattress bouncing. She looked as Diana was lying upon the bed with her Moleskin notebook, tapping a pen against the cover and scribbling things down. Akko wondered what exactly Diana was working on. She hoped Diana would show her because the blonde seemed so heavily absorbed in it.

Akko continued to unpack her bags and plopped herself down on her bed, putting in her Ipod to listen to while she sat still. She took in the sounds of Such Gold's album "The New Sidewalk", a record that Ursula herself had produced, mixed, and mastered and that she had grown very fond of over repeated listens. It helped also that Such Gold were close friends of A Seed of Sorrow, which made Akko all the more inclined to listen to their music.

She glanced over at Diana again, who was still writing things down in her notebook. This was going to be a very interesting period of time for the two of them.

* * *

The first day they arrived the band awoke to showers and a hardy "rocky mountain breakfast" of omelettes and breakfast sausage along with cereal for Akko and Amanda. Then the band proceeded to unpack the van and move all the equipment into the studio, putting most of the equipment into the practice room so they could practice some of the songs. The whole time Ursula listened closely to the eighteen or so songs that Akko had put together, taking in each one with nods of her head and thinking poses as she listened to them carefully.

After the showing of songs and some preliminary ideas were given over what proved to be nothing more than a simple rehearsal, the band retired for the night over beers and dinner before going back into the studio the next day. It was then that the whole band participated in tearing down Lotte's drum kit and moving it into Studio A, Polaris's main recording studio, and reassemble it for recording. But before anything could be recorded the whole kit had to be mic'd up.

Diana offered to lend a hand and Ursula was more than happy to have the blonde do her part in the setup. Diana and the rest of the band each took their turns making minute adjustments to the microphones as Lotte sat behind her drum kit, trying their best to get the best tones. Much to Diana's surprise this process took not one, not two, but close to five hours to perfect.

The grueling task gave Diana a headache, and it was a more than welcome to hear that Ursula had dialed in the tone to a satisfactory level and they could begin recording drum tracks. Diana took a moment to walk outside the studio and breathe in some fresh air, having not believed she spent almost six hours knelt over with Akko and company trying to set up microphones around a drum set. Was this what the whole album was going to be like recording?

While Lotte tracked her drum parts Diana took her seat on the couch next to Akko. At first when she sat down she made the mistake of moving a bit too close, causing her shoulder to rub up against the Japanese girl. When that happened a jolt of warmth shot through Diana's side catching the blonde singer off guard. At this sensation Diana breathed in a little bit sharply but remained composed, only letting a light blush come across her face as she moved over and sat down next to Akko.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Amanda snicker from her position on the floor. "What?" Diana said.

"Oh nothing," Amanda chuckled as she sat on the floor. "Nothing at all."

Diana raised her eyebrow at Amanda and looked away curiously. Meanwhile she sat down in the studio and watched as Lotte went about tracking the drums, listening in as each take was cycled through and different parts were recorded. And much to her surprise there were a lot of takes, so many takes in fact that after being in the studio for another five hours only one song had been fully recorded, and it was one of the shortest ones on the album. Diana was absolutely stunned. Were A Seed of Sorrow that sloppy or was Ursula really pushing them that hard?

And worst of all the takes were making Akko antsy and frustrated. The Japanese girl began to pace about the studio and pout, kicking at the dust on the floor and gritting her teeth in frustration. Diana didn't understand it in the slightest. Akko wasn't the drummer. Why was she getting so upset?

After a while Diana couldn't take sitting on the couch listening to the banging of the drums anymore and decided to go back to her room. Once she was back in her room she plopped back down on her bed and opened up her moleskin notebook. She took out a pen and tapped it against the notebook, trying to think of something to write down while humming to herself.

 _Why are we so angry? Why are we so bored?_

There she went thinking about Akko again. Even in her most antsy moments Akko was having an effect on her when she just wanted to be left be from the presence of the Japanese girl. Incensed, Diana set the notebook down and groaned. If that was all that was going to come to her than it was enough. She just wanted Akko's irritating habits out of her head even for a brief moment.

"Mmph Diana?" she heard Akko ask. She turned over in her bed to see Akko holding a plate with some food in her left hand with a fork in her right. Her mouth was full and sauce was strewn across her lips. "You want some short ribs? Ursula-sensei made some in the crock pot."

"I think I'll pass," Diana said as she turned back away from Akko. "I would rather rest."

"I don't blame you," Akko said as she sat down her bed with the plate. "Today was tough."

"You don't presume that every day is going to be like this is it?" Diana asked, turning over to meet Akko face to face. The Japanese girl's red eyes met her own and she felt the blood begin to rise toward her cheeks.

Akko shrugged her shoulders. "It depends on how Ursula feels and how tired Lotte gets."

"I don't understand," Diana said. "Lotte always plays so precisely whenever we rehearse or play live. Why is it that in the studio she cannot play correctly?"

"It's not that she's not doing things right, it's that Ursula thinks she can do better," Akko explained. "She pushes all of us to be at our best. And if you heard Lotte forced herself to do some extra takes in there too. There may have been some moments in there where Ursula thought she did well but Lotte herself didn't think she did, so they scrapped the take and did it again."

"Well it's good to know I'm in the company of such ardent perfectionists," Diana said. She looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "I just didn't know recording this album was going to be so grueling."

"Well you're in for a long ride then," Akko remarked with a smile on her face. Diana rolled her eyes. The things she found the Japanese girl to take delight in were somewhat absurd.

And then she saw something most surprising. She saw Akko reach into her bag and pull out of all things a needle and some white thread on a black piece of fabric. Diana raised her eyebrow and watch as Akko began to sit on her bed and move the needle in the fabric. After awhile she couldn't help but speak up. "You embroider?" Diana questioned.

Akko looked up at her and locked eyes with her once again. "Kind of," she said sheepishly. "I like sewing little things here and there."

"And what are you working on now?" Diana asked.

She watched Akko get up from the bed and show her her work. It was a piece of black fabric with the word "A Seed" written in white thread with an ornate picture of a seed spreading its roots out below. Diana nodded her head at the sight. It was a way more complex piece than she expected Akko to be capable of. "It's a design I was coming up with for a patch or a shirt," Akko explained. "I liked sewing it into the fabric because I do that better than drawing things."

Diana nodded her head, even if the statement didn't seem to make much sense. "How did you learn how to sew?"

Akko shrugged her shoulders. "I first noticed it when I was in college. My old mentor, Professor Woodward, would have crochet designs and embroidered things in her office. I asked her how to teach me one day and she did. I used to spend a lot of time in her office when I was on campus practicing my technique. She was really cool like that to me in those days." Much to Diana's surprise Akko sat down on the edge of her bed without asking. Diana wanted to protest and say it was rather impolite, but for some reason she remained silent. "I don't know, it calms me down after I've had a really stressful day."

"Well if I'm honest I never thought of you taking up an activity that requires such repose," Diana stated as she sat up on her bed.

"I know right?" Akko chuckled. "It's really not me and yet I think it's awesome." Diana looked over at Akko, who was weaving the white thread in and out out of the patch. It was still rather shocking that Akko of all people was into embroidery. She couldn't say she was into it herself. "So I've seen you really buried in that notebook. Think you could tell me what you're working on?"

Diana shook her head. "Not yet. I haven't even come close to finishing it."

"Well shit are you ever gonna finish it?" Akko questioned. "It feels like you're hiding it from me."

"I assure you I'm not hiding it from you, Akko," Diana stated. "I'm merely trying to complete it before I share it with anyone."

"Well I just want you to know if you want to share it with any of us you can feel free to," Akko said. "We're pretty nonjudgmental around here if you haven't already guessed."

"Trust me, I know how nonjudgmental all of you are," Diana stated with a gentle smile. "And I promise I will show it to you when all is said and done."

Akko nodded her head and went back over to her bed, picking up the plate of food and scooping some of it into her mouth. "You should really get some of these short ribs," Akko said with her mouth full. "They're really tasty."

Diana sighed and got up from her bed. If Akko was going to keep pestering her about getting the short ribs she might as well go get some. The headache she had would probably dissipate with some food anyway.

* * *

The next day was back to more of the same; Lotte laying down more drum tracks. Once again Diana took her place sitting on the couch behind Ursula with Akko while Sucy and Amanda sat on the floor and in a chair respectively. Diana listened closely as Lotte pounded out drum beats in take after take. At the moment they were working on one song that had a very slow repeated drum fill over a bridge section, and Lotte was having trouble nailing the part.

"Remember Lotte, it's kick, snare, tom, tom," Ursula reminded. "And gently okay, you're putting too much force into it."

"So the kick drum comes first?" Lotte asked from the drum room.

"Kick drum comes first," Ursula repeated. "Kick, snare, tom, tom. Okay?"

"Got it."

"Let's run it again." Ursula went back and played the track up to the point where Lotte was having trouble and watched as Lotte did the fill again, listening closely while Akko and Diana listened equally as intently. After the fill was done Ursula stopped the recording and smiled. "That was awesome, great job. Now let's just do it again try to get a little more nuance."

"More nuance?" Diana questioned. "But you said she did a great job? What do you mean the take needs more nuance?"

"It could've had a bit more flow," Ursula stated.

Diana shook her head and leaned back in her seat. "Jeez, you seemed more annoyed than Lotte is with all these takes," Akko said.

"We've been in here for almost four hours working on one song," Diana said. "It's...how would you say it…"

"A bitch?" Akko said.

"If you want to put it that way then sure," Diana said. She squirmed in her seat to get a better position. "I just don't understand why this is taking so long."

"Well you're playing at a pace you've never played consistently at before," Ursula said. "And on top of that Lotte's playing with a click track, which means she has extra reason to be in time."

"Click track?" Diana questioned.

Ursula pushed a button on her console and an audible clicking sound began to fill the room. Diana immediately decided she had enough of it and asked for it to be shut off. "It's supposed to help a drummer play tighter."

"My goodness," Diana muttered. "At this rate the drums will take forever to complete."

"Hey have some more faith in Lotte!" Akko shot back. "She's got this under control. Ursula-sensei is just pushing her hard."

Diana shook her head and sighed. "Like I said, I'm glad I'm in the company of such ardent perfectionists."

Ursula sighed and turned around. "Look, we've all been in the studio for awhile. Lotte and I have been up recording tracks since four o'clock in the morning. Why don't all of us take a break?"

"Well what are we gonna do?" Sucy asked.

"Why don't we go into town and hit up Edora?" Amanda proposed.

"Edora?" Diana questioned perplexedly.

"It's a local skatepark," Amanda said as she stood up. "It's early in the afternoon and I'm dying to shred some asphalt." Diana raised her eyebrow. "You've never been to a skatepark I take it?"

"I can't say I have," Diana said.

At that moment Akko, Sucy, and Amanda raised their eyebrows. They just realized that Diana either lived a truly sheltered lifestyle or she was truly ignorant to the world of extreme sports. "Do you know what skateboarding is?"

Diana scoffed at the statement. "Of course I know what skateboarding is. I didn't grow up under a rock."

"Phew," Amanda said with a scrape across her forehead. "For a second there I thought you really were a square. Well I say let's hit up the skatepark. I know Sucy and I brought our boards and Akko we can lend you a backup if need be. And maybe we can teach Princess a few things."

"You're going to teach me how to skateboard?" Diana questioned.

"I don't see why not," Amanda said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Unless you're chicken that is."

Diana rolled her eyes. "I most certainly am not scared if that's what you're implying. So yes, let's go to the skatepark. I'd like to get out of here for a moment anyway."

* * *

The members of SOS took Ursula's Subaru Forester to get to the skatepark. Once there they disembarked the SUV and took their boards into the skatepark. Diana watched as Amanda immediately went for the large oblong shaped bowl and brought her board to the edge, waiting to drop in upon Sucy following her and Akko being close behind. Lotte walked up to the edge with Sucy's spare board in her hands and stood over the bowl. Diana looked down inside at the steep drop in, the slope going straight down into the flat bottom of the bowl.

"You want to drop in, Princess?" Amanda asked.

Diana raised her eyebrow. "Drop into what?"

"Into the bowl?" Amanda muttered perplexedly. "Or again, are you just chicken?"

Huffing, Diana politely asked Lotte for her skateboard and stood on the edge of the bowl. "Have you ever skated before?" Akko asked curiously.

"I can't say I have," Diana replied.

"And you're seriously going to drop into this bowl just because Amanda is telling you you're chicken if you don't?" Akko asked.

"Aren't you the one who took up a bet with her that you couldn't possibly come out on top of?" Diana said.

"Yeah but this isn't like that! This is a bowl and you're going to…"

"Akko just let me drop into the bowl and whatever happens happens," Diana said firmly. She watched Akko sigh. She couldn't understand again why Akko was sticking up for her, even if she did understand what could happen if she were to mess this up.

"Okay so this is not that hard," Akko said as the got on her board and held it on the edge with her foot. "All you do is you lean in on the front of the board with all your weight and go down. Like this."

Diana watched as Akko dropped into the bowl, but instead of holding her weight on the front she shifted it rearward and ended up flying off the skateboard and onto her back. Diana gasped at the sight, watching as Akko slid slowly down the side of the bowl. She wanted to jump in and get to the bottom to attend to Akko any way she could. But before that was necessary Akko got back up and stood up with a thumb in the air signaling she was okay. "That's how you're not supposed to drop into a bowl," Akko said sheepishly. "I mess it up a lot."

"Alright Princess," Amanda remarked. The redhead then leaned in and dropped down into the bowl. "You're up!"

Diana furrowed her brow and held the skateboard with her foot. Looking down closely at the bottom of the bowl, she squinted her eyes and put her foot on the edge of the front tail of the skateboard. Leaning her weight into the front of the skateboard, she felt the board droop down from the lip of the bowl onto the curved edge, its wheels hugging the pavement as it went down onto the paved surface. Keeping in mind what Akko said and following Amanda's lead, Diana held her weight on the front of the board and entered a small crouch as she went down into the bowl and made her way to the bottom before actually making her way to the top of the adjacent lip of the bowl, landing the trucks of the board over the edge before she hopped the board back down the side and onto the bottom, where Akko, Amanda, and eventually Sucy, were waiting for her. Akko and Amanda had dumbfounded looks on their faces.

"What?" Diana questioned.

"You sure you've never skated before?" Amanda questioned.

"Not a day in my life," Diana said.

"Because you sure don't look like someone who's never skated before," Amanda said as she climbed back up the lip of the bowl. Diana raised her eyebrow and looked over at Akko, who had an equally shocked look on her face.

"Can I try something with you, Diana?" Akko asked as they stood in the bottom of the bowl.

"Sure."

"Okay so," Akko said, putting the board under her feet. "I want you to put one foot on the back of the board and one in the middle. Alright?" Diana followed Akko's lead and moved her feet in position. "Now I want you to bend your knees and jump, mostly off your back foot, and then catch the board with your feet. Can you do that?"

Diana bent down into a crouch and jumped up, feeling the board launch into the air from under her, and as it came back down she slid her foot forward, bringing her knees up as her foot caught the grip tape of the board and came back down, which she landed perfectly. "Well, that wasn't very difficult," Diana said. Akko had a shocked look on her face. "What?"

"You just ollied on your first try!" Akko exclaimed. "I can't ollie to save my life and you do it on your first try?! God damn it!" Diana watched Akko kick the skateboard over and cross her arms. "This freaking sucks."

"Hey, quit pouting over there," Amanda shot back from the top of the bowl. "Let's see if we can teach Princess how to do a kickflip."

"I don't think she can do that," Akko said.

"I'll do it if it shuts her up," Diana said nonchalantly. She walked up to the side of the bowl and took Lotte's hand to hoist herself up. She then watched as Amanda skated away and appeared to do a regular ollie, but instead kicked her foot up in the air making the board flip before she landed back down on it. Diana squinted her eyes and proceeded to do the same exact maneuver, ollieing up and doing an almost martial arts esque kick in the air to let her board flip under her and catching it back with her feet. The other members of SOS looked on dumbfounded as Diana landed back on her feet. She had done a kickflip on her first try.

The rest of the afternoon was spent skating around the park, Diana doing ollies and kickflips at her whim while the others skated around. The whole time she noticed Akko scowling in disgust as they went about the rest of their day. Diana herself was shocked by just how quickly she picked up on the skateboarding, but she didn't necessarily find the actions all that difficult. Sure she wasn't the most limber individual and she had trouble with some of the tricks that she was taught, namely some of the so called grinds which she could not quite master, but she was able to figure out how to ollie and kickflip with ease while having no trouble whatsoever. And she didn't doubt that she would be able to learn more tricks with further tutelage from Amanda and more practice. If she was honest with herself skateboarding was one of the most fun things she had done in years.

The whole time they were at the skatepark she noticed Akko standing around with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed, clearly upset and unable to enjoy herself the rest of the day. Diana couldn't understand why Akko was so disappointed but more surprising to her was no matter how hard she skated and how far she skated away from Akko she could still feel the pangs of irritation and disappointment coming off of Akko's aura. Diana didn't quite understand why, but it gave her her own pangs of disappointed feelings in her as well. She couldn't help but wonder if she had somehow wronged Akko in her actions.

* * *

Back at the studio Akko listened carefully as Lotte continued to lay down drum tracks. This time Ursula had chose to make a Japanese-American/Hawaiian classic, spam tamago musubi. After making the meat, egg, and rice dish she sat around and ate it while watching Lotte track more drums with Ursula at the booth, standing over Ursula's shoulder intently as Lotte continued to lay down drum track after drum track in take after take. The whole process quickly consumed multiple hours as Akko stood pat in the studio watching the recording process unfold.

She watched as Diana sat on the table fiddling around with whatever she was writing in her Moleskin notebook. She sighed at the sight of Diana burying her head deep within its pages. Akko didn't know why she was so desperate to know just what the contents of the pages of that notebook were. Maybe it was because she felt the activity was isolating Diana from the rest of the band, but the rest of the band didn't seem the least bit bothered by what Diana was doing so maybe Akko was misinterpreting things. Maybe she was the only one who felt isolated, isolated from Diana, which was another thing she wondered why in the world she cared about. Diana was just her singer, just a bandmate, and just someone who she was willing to call a friend. Why did she care so damn much about what Diana was doing?

"Hey, Sucy," Akko said as she set down her plate. "Could I talk to you in private?"

The puce haired girl shrugged her shoulders and got up from her chair to follow Akko outside. "What's going on?" Sucy questioned.

Akko leaned up against the studio space and sighed. "It's about Diana."

"Oh boy this again," Sucy said with a roll of her eyes. "What now?"

"Have you noticed her writing in that notebook a lot lately?" Akko asked.

"Yeah but I haven't really paid much attention to it," Sucy said. "Why?"

"I just…" Akko began to say. She huffed before she continued on with her thought. "I just don't like it for some reason."

"Akko, she's writing in a notebook. What is there not to like?" Sucy asked.

"Because I think she's hiding something from us," Akko said.

"What in the world could she possibly be hiding from us?" Sucy questioned. "Akko, she's probably just doing it as a getaway from all the monotony in the studio. I would probably doing the same thing if I had any desire to do such."

"Yeah but she won't let me or anyone else see it for that matter. And I just wonder what the hell it is that she won't let us see. There's gotta be something to it that we just…"

"Akko, drop it," Sucy ordered.

"But…"

"Akko, its just another concern and insecurity you have over Diana, which I don't understand," Sucy said. "It's like every other week you have a new beef with her over something."

"Sucy, I don't have a beef every week with Diana, I just…"

"You're getting yourself all worked up over her writing in a notebook," Sucy stated in her deadpan tone. "Step back for a moment and think about how stupid you look right now."

Akko went to say something more but she couldn't find the words. Sucy was right. She was acting completely ludicrous and had no reason to do such. Diana's actions weren't bothering anyone but her, and she had no reason to really be bothered by them. Everything was just in her head, least for the moment. And it didn't help that she felt burned by what had happened earlier with the skateboarding. It felt like Diana was rubbing things in her face.

"I guess you're right," Akko sighed. "Come on, let's see how Lotte is doing with the drums."

Akko glumly walked back into the studio with Sucy in tow. She was hoping the puce haired woman would agree with her, but her typical disagreement was probably for the best. Sucy would never steer her wrong, but sometimes Akko just wanted to be validated and not disagreed with for the sake of disagreement. But she knew deep down that Sucy was right. She was the only one who was bothered by Diana's actions, and she didn't really have a reason to be bothered. Maybe everything was just in her head. Maybe what Diana was writing wasn't all that special. But Akko couldn't stand it, and she desperately wanted to get to the bottom of things.


	13. Rocky Mountain High

**AN: Alright, got this out before the holiday season passed! This chapter took awhile due to a few things; getting retrained at my job to do a new role with took a lot of time, a move into my first new place, and general writers block. I have overcome all of these things and managed to get the chapter done as an early holiday present for all of you!**

 **No songs by A Wilhelm Scream appear in this chapter, but a song by Dr. Dre entitled "Bitches Ain't Shit" appears. Give it a listen when it comes up.**

 **Thanks again for all your support and keep on critiquing so I can get better!**

 **-Symbiotic**

* * *

After about another week the drums were finally recorded for a A Seed of Sorrow's new album. The last several days Lotte made it a point to be as precise and technically sound as possible, playing in perfect harmony with the click track to produce right drum lines. It all bode well for the next stages of recording the album; rhythm guitar and bass. Diana greatly welcomed this change, for it no longer meant she would have to monotonously hear the sound of drums being beaten percussively over and over again.

Recording the guitars was no less arduous. Even with just the rhythm tracks, which were mostly composed of power chord riffing, took immense amounts of precision and technique to get right. And Ursula, with Alcor watching from a perch in the studio, was ever dutiful in pushing Akko and Amanda in laying down the riffs that the album contained.

At the moment Diana was listening carefully to a multitude of takes Akko was doing for "I Wipe My Ass with Showbiz", which somewhat like Lotte Akko wasn't necessarily getting at just the way that Ursula wanted. "Akko," Ursula said as she sat in her large office chair. "Akko you're not playing the riff tight enough."

"Oh come on I know I'm…" Akko went to say.

"Akko, you're not playing it tight enough," Ursula repeated. Diana watched the blue haired woman sigh. "Can I have the guitar?"

Diana raised her eyebrow and watched as Akko handed Ursula her Les Paul. She then watched Ursula reach for a pick and begin to strum the chords that Akko was having such trouble with. Diana watched as Ursula picked at the strings much harder than Akko was, almost hard enough to bend them out of tune, and moved her fingers more fluidly across the fretboard. Diana watched it very closely.

After showing Akko how to play, Ursula passed her back the guitar and let go another take of the part. Akko picked harder at the strings this time and really dug into putting her all into the fretwork, moving her fingers from chord to chord much more fluidly and producing a much tighter sound than the previous takes. Alcor, who had been sitting on a perch in the corner of the studio, cawed in approval. "Great work, Akko," Ursula said with a smile. "Now let's see if you can do that again."

"Aw come on, Sensei," Akko groaned.

"Akko," Ursula said.

"Alright." Akko went back to strumming the chords again, trying her best to play them as tightly as possible. The attempt again resulted in another failed take, which made Ursula again have to repeat the process.

As annoyed as she was with having to constantly listen to Akko do take after take Diana had grown to appreciate how hard Ursula pushed the Japanese woman. She knew that one take would never be enough when it came to almost all of the instrumentals. Yet never in a million years did she think it would be this many takes. She thought maybe ten at most, but she could tell that Ursula was doing everything in her power to bring the best out of Akko and company. Just playing a simple song like "I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz" took an excruciatingly great amount of takes, and they hadn't even gotten to playing the leads yet. This was all way more intense than Diana expected, much like the first time she had ever taken the stage with A Seed of Sorrow.

Still she had her head buried in her notebook and an Ipad she kept with her open to view the latest happenings in the world. Out of curiosity she found herself pulling up the local results from a racetrack in New York where the Cavendish family raced their horses, a sport which Diana was disgusted with and wanted to end. Even though she hated the sport she was deeply curious as to what was actually happening out in the world of horse racing. And while her concerns were assuaged when she found that none of the Cavendish horses were racing that day she was saddened to learn that one of the horses had suffered a career ending injury and instead of being sent to be nursed back to health was euthanized with a captive bolt gun. The display disgusted Diana and made her feel sick to her stomach.

 _….is a captive bolt gun. We're disposable…_

She continued to write the ideas that came to her head and scrawl them into her Moleskin notebook while Akko did take after take. Eventually the song was nailed down completely, the takes being put together in Pro Tools by Ursula to have fully tracked the rhythm guitars, the songs now prepared for Sucy to lay down the bass parts and both Amanda and Akko to track the leads and solo of the song.

"Damn that took awhile," Akko said as she stood up from her seat and set the borrowed guitar, a black Gibson Les Paul Custom hot rodded with Seymour Duncan pickups, and walked toward the exit of the studio. "I'm going to make a sandwich or something. You want to come, Diana?"

Diana thought about what she wanted to do for a moment. Getting some food at the moment was not an entirely objectionable plan, but then she thought about something she wanted to do otherwise. "I'll pass," she stated calmly. "But maybe I'll join you in a little bit."

"Suit yourself," Akko said with a shrug of her shoulders. Diana remained seated on the couch writing in her notebook while Ursula moved some clips around in Pro Tools further.

"You're awfully quiet today," Ursula said as she did her work.

Diana picked her head up out of her notebook. "Why do you say that?"

"I don't know, just noticed it," Ursula said as she moved the clips around. "You didn't seem to raise any protests when Akko was going through her takes."

"I know now what I'm in for while the instruments are all being recorded," Diana said as she straightened herself out in the sofa. "I was rather unprepared for just how much you expect out of everyone when it came to Lotte recording the drums."

"There's a big misconception about punk rock music," Ursula said as she moved the clips around. "People think because the music is so simple that the recording process is simple. Guitar into amplifier, mic up the drums, do a few takes, and then you got it. A punk rock album in that mindset shouldn't take more than a week or two to record. But when you play punk rock like A Seed of Sorrow does…" Ursula paused and continued to maneuver the clips into place. "It takes much longer."

"How much longer?" Diana asked.

"That depends on how much money the label is willing to throw at the record and how well the musicians play," Ursula said. "There's a lot of moving parts to the music you ladies make. All the tapping licks, the scaled runs, and now you're playing it at speeds you've never consistently played at before. Not to mention all the new things Sucy is doing on the bass. Recording an album like this is going to take some time."

"You don't fault Akko for trying to make an album like this, do you?" Diana asked.

"Not at all," Ursula said with a smile. "It's good to see an artist so willing to push the boundaries as she is. It would get boring if we were recording the same album over and over again. And I kind of like the attitude that Akko and the rest of you bring to the music. Throwing as much stuff onto a track as you possibly can is a fun approach to punk rock."

Diana nodded her head and went to go back to her notebook. "May I ask what you're doing with that notebook?"

Diana raised her eyebrows. She wasn't ready to share what she was doing with her bandmates just yet, but maybe Ursula was different. She was the producer and sort of an authority figure on the whole process, and maybe it wouldn't be so wrong to show her what she was doing. Reluctantly she got up and showed Ursula the notebook, letting the blue haired woman and her bird look at the notes and the scribbled out ideas that Diana had put onto the page.

"Interesting," Ursula said with her finger on her chin. "Do you plan on showing this to the rest of the band?"

"When it's done I do," Diana said. "I'm just a bit nervous that it won't be received well."

"Trust me, that's the last thing you'll have to worry about with A Seed of Sorrow," Ursula assured Diana. "They always find a way to make use of something."

Diana nodded her head and went to sit back on the couch. But as soon as she sat down a thought crossed her mind. "Ursula," she spoke up. The blue haired woman turned around. "How did this studio come to be?"

Ursula gave a half smile and looked up toward the ceiling. "That's a good question," she replied. She leaned back in her office chair and folded her hands. "How far are you willing to let me go back?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"How far are you willing to let me go back in this story, because there is a lot to talk about," Ursula stated. "The story of how this studio and I ended up here is quite a long one."

"Well I suppose I have time," Diana said, again straightening herself out in the sofa. "So where does this all start?"

"It starts many years ago, in a far away country somewhere in western Europe," Ursula began. "It starts with a little girl who had a dream. See that little girl loved music. She wanted nothing more to play music all over the world. And she started young, starting in the little old Catholic church in her village as a choir girl, like many children who start their musical careers." Diana nodded her head. "She continued to sing choir in church and in elementary school, right up through high school really. But it was when she was something like ten years old she stumbled upon something when she was cleaning out her father's cellar; an old record collection of rock albums from the 1960s and 1970s."

"And those inspired you?"

"Undoubtedly," Ursula stated. "You see those rock records opened me up to a totally new world of music. I was inspired greatly by the work of John Lennon and The Beatles along with Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin. I wanted nothing more than to learn to play rock music. And I did. I learned to play every instrument in a rock band, right down to the vocals. I even learned English so that way I could better convey my lyrics. English is the global language of all rock music, and most music in general. It's why I'm able to record everything so capably. I know how each instrument is supposed to fit into the sound of the band and I can speak English fluently."

"That's quite an accomplishment," Diana replied.

Ursula blushed. "Thank you," she said modestly. "But really it was all just a hobby. My dream was to travel around the world making music, but I was starting to lose faith that I would ever make it out of my small village that I grew up in. So I studied as hard as I could for the exams to get into a prestigious university in my country. I studied night in and night out, driving myself absolutely crazy, trying so hard to ensure I got out of the village and into a place where I could thrive musically. And I succeeded. I got out of my little village and went to study at a university. And yet surprisingly, while I was studying music and also sociology, I was not satisfied with my situation at the time."

"And you ended up in the United States as a result?"

"Yeah," Ursula said sheepishly. "You see I was playing in small bands back in my home country, but I really wanted to play internationally. Trouble was I had no way to book international gigs, so I figured why not just pick up everything and move to another country for a little while. I took up a study abroad opportunity when I was twenty in the United States. I studied at Southern Cal for music, film, and sociology. And while I was there I was introduced to the California heavy music underground; skate punk, hardcore, and the Bay Area thrash metal scene. I loved all of it because of how raw yet how virtuosic it could be. And it all stuck with me as I found my way around Los Angeles."

"And what happened next?"

"I met someone, someone who shared a similar musical vision to mine," Ursula explained. "Someone who wanted to play in a band that was kind of all about fun and just into playing live for the sake of playing live and made sweet little punk rock musings. We met up with two other people and we formed a band called 'All', and soon began playing the local southern California punk rock scene. We'd play anywhere from small clubs to basements to skateparks and one time we even played in the back of a pizza place. But soon we graduated from playing beyond those odd venues and grew much larger crowds. By the early 1990s we had attracted the attention of a then new label called Interscope Records, run by famous producer Jimmy Iovine. They took a liking to our music and signed us to a massive recording contract. And this is where the story of the Fountain comes into effect. Instead of taking that money and using it to hire another producer, we went and used it to build a recording studio outside of the hustle and bustle of southern California where we could record in peace. That studio became The Fountain of Polaris."

"And I assume you didn't just record yourselves in this studio did you?"

"We had a long list of friends and other bands who wanted to record with us before the studio was even open for business," Ursula said with a smile. "So my partner and I began to produce bands. My partner specifically taught me how to mix music and do mastering, and I took to it like a fish to water. In due time we were making money not only fulfilling our contract with All but recording bands when we weren't out doing our own thing."

"So where is your partner now?" Diana asked.

Ursula sighed heavily and looked down at the floor. "We had our musical differences and personality clashes from the beginning. At first we squashed them in the name of making something great, but eventually they became too great to overcome. She sold me her share in the fountain and left All. The band broke up soon afterwards. I was left alone."

Ursula and Diana remained quiet for a few moments as Diana took in time to take in all that the blue haired woman had told her. The story was quite interesting to Diana, having been much more engrossing and elaborate than she had ever expected. Diana would have loved to hear more about All and Ursula's career with the band but she decided not to press the matter. The story she was given seemed like more than enough given what Ursula had revealed to her.

"Thank you for sharing all of that with me," Diana said politely. "It was quite interesting to hear."

"Anytime," Ursula said. "Why don't you go get some lunch? I'm going to be awhile before we start recording the bass and Amanda's rhythm tracks for the song."

Diana nodded her head and got up from the couch before heading back to the guest house. She could hear her stomach rumbling and wasn't opposed to making a sandwich to sate her appetite.

* * *

The coming few days saw Akko lay down more rhythm tracks through take after take, but this time she was being more precise and getting things down in a better fashion. Soon songs began to fill up the recording list and began to come together in a more complete manner, especially once Sucy laid the bass tracks down. Akko was impressed by how well her vision was coming together, and also enjoyed the input that Ursula was giving her regarding the songs.

"So maybe in this section with that riff behind the pinch harmonics we pick in longer strokes instead of being so tight," Ursula said. "Try that for me?"

Akko nodded her head and looked over at Amanda, who was playing through her amp running directly into the cabinet while Akko had her head running directly into the mixing console with her Mesa cabinet for reference. Amanda then played the pinch harmonics part of the particular song they were working on while Akko strummed away at the chords she had behind the pinch harmonics. Ursula listened closely with Sucy, Lotte, and Diana in tow behind her. Alcor remained up on his perch. Normally he would let out a caw in approval but this time he didn't.

"Maybe too loose," Ursula said. "I don't know, ladies. What do you think?"

"Maybe tighten it up a little bit?" Lotte proposed. "I liked the idea of it being a little loose but right now it seems a bit sloppy."

"How about they get long strokes in on the first two chords but the ones afterwards they tighten them up?" Sucy proposed. She turned her way over to the blonde sitting on the couch. "What do you think?"

"It's worth a shot," Diana said. "I think it should sound pretty good."

Akko smiled lightly at Diana's praise. She had grown to appreciate it more and more as the time went on that she was part of A Seed of Sorrow. The Japanese girl then turned her attention back to Amanda. "Ready?"

"Born ready," Amanda replied.

"Give us a countdown, Lotte?"

Lotte smiled and put her hand on her knee, tapping it to give them a beat. "One, two, three, four!"

With that Akko and Amanda began their parts, Amanda holding onto her pinch harmonics while Akko strummed her way through the chords that would go underneath. This continued on for a just over thirty seconds before Ursula cut the take off. "Perfect, that was great," Ursula said as she moved the clip into Pro Tools. "Good work, Akko."

Akko smirked at the producer's praise. "See, I know how to do things right on the first few tries. I'm not always a struggling idiot."

"No, you're always a struggling idiot," Sucy said with a smirk. "But you're our struggling idiot, so it's not a big deal."

"Gee thanks, Sucy," Akko replied. Akko looked over at a clock in the studio and raised her eyebrows. "Another long day of recording. We should go take another break."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Ursula said. "I can work on the song we just completed from the guitar perspective before we have Sucy lay down the bass lines. Why don't you girls go out and do something fun?"

"Perhaps we can go back to Edora?" Diana proposed. Akko rolled her eyes. Ever since Diana had mastered the art of doing kickflips and ollies and was on her way to learning more tricks she had wanted to keep going back to the skatepark. Akko, who still was struggling to master even a basic ollie, was not so keen on going. She didn't want to show how much she was struggling in front of Diana. It wasn't so much that she was jealous of the fact that Diana was picking up on skateboarding so fast and bought herself a brand new Element skateboard while she was stuck using Amanda's beat up World Industries secondary board, but she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of her band's singer. Why she cared about that she didn't fully understand, but the last thing Akko wanted to appear to Diana was someone who was bumbling about and clumsy. She already thought Diana might have felt that with the way she was struggling to play her guitar parts and was rather upset that she was struggling so much in front of her.

"Maybe we do something else other than hit up the skatepark," Akko proposed. "I'm kind of hungry. Want to go out to eat?"

"You know getting a burger and a beer don't sound all that bad right now," Sucy proposed. "Plus I got some ideas of things we could do tonight that I wanted to run by you ladies before we actually go do them. So what do you say we hit up Jack Quinn's and we can talk about things there."

"I'm down," Amanda said.

"Let's do it," Lotte said.

"I guess we can go out," Akko said. She set the Les Paul in Ursula's hands and watched as the blue haired woman pulled out the keys to her Subaru. Akko smiled and took the keys before she and her bandmates walked down the hall and out to the garage.

After a few minutes of driving the girl's made it to Jack Quinn's Irish Pub and were sitting down at a booth ordering beers and chicken wings. While there Akko ordered herself a local craft beer from one of the many small breweries operating in Fort Collins. She turned herself over to Diana. "Maybe try ordering something other than the Blue Moon or Sam Adams we typically order."

"What do you suggest?" Diana asked.

Akko then realized she didn't know what kind of flavors Diana actually enjoyed. She struggled to come up with an idea of what Diana might like. Someone like her surely would appreciate a beer with some notes of vanilla, wouldn't she? Or maybe Diana would just like a wheat ale that had a bit more flavor to it? She cursed herself on the inside. How in the world could she make such a proposition to order something different to Diana without actually knowing what kind of flavors she actually enjoyed?

"You know, maybe just stick to your Blue Moon," Akko said sheepishly.

"Nonsense," Diana said. "I looked it up online and found that Fort Collins has numerous small breweries and I think I'm willing to venture out of my comfort zone for a change."

Akko swallowed nervously. She had to get this right or else Diana might not ever take a suggestion from her again. Okay, maybe that was a hyperbole. But why in the world did she care so much?

"I think you'd like the Easy Street Wheat," Akko said while pointing it on the menu. "It's kind of like Blue Moon but with less of a citrus and more of a vanilla kind of flavor."

"That sounds delightful," Diana said. "Thank you, Akko."

"You're welcome," Akko said, again very sheepishly. She shook herself a little. Why in the world was she so obsessed with making sure Diana chose the right kind of beer?

Amanda proceeded to order a large plate of chicken wings with bleu cheese sauce for the band to munch on while they waited for their entrees. For a moment everyone was engaged in small time conversation, but then Akko remembered that Sucy had something to propose to them.

"So what were you gonna suggest that we do tonight, Sucy?" Akko asked, turning her attention toward the puce haired bassist.

"So I know we're all kind of beat from the recording, right," Sucy said. "And I was thinking we could do something to kind of unwind before we get back to the grind tomorrow."

"What did you have in mind?" Akko asked.

"I was thinking we could get completely blazed tonight," Sucy proposed with a wicked smile on her face and an evil snicker.

Akko nearly choked on the meat from the chicken wing she was eating. "You want to do what?!"

"I want to buy some weed and get blazed," Sucy said. "What do you not understand about this?"

"You're suggesting we buy some illegal drugs?" Diana questioned curiously. "That seems rather dangerous, doesn't it?"

"You don't know anything about Colorado do you, Diana?" Sucy questioned.

"I just know marijuana is illegal across the United States," Diana stated.

"Not in Colorado," Sucy said with an evil grin. "Here's it's completely legal."

"Are you serious?" Diana questioned.

"She's one hundred percent serious," Akko groaned. "Come on, Sucy. Do we really want to do this? You still got bass lines to lay down and we're not done tracking rhythm guitars yet. Getting high is only going to get in the way."

"I'm not laying down anymore bass until I get stoned," Sucy said. "I'm sorry, but I'm not passing up the opportunity to buy some good legal bud while I still can."

"Lotte, Amanda?" Akko questioned.

"I wouldn't mind smoking," Lotte said.

"Yeah what's wrong with a hit or two of some ganja?" Amanda said. She looked over at Akko and Diana. "Unless you two are…"

"No, we aren't scared, thank you very much," Akko shot back. "We'll take as many hits of chronic as you want us too."

"Uh, Akko…" Diana said nervously.

"Note to self," Sucy said quietly while looking at Lotte. "Use Amanda to goad Akko into doing just about anything."

"What, are you gonna back out now too?" Akko shot back at Diana sharply. "Come on, it's just a little weed. It's not like we're doing crack. What's life if you can't live a little?" She looked back over at Sucy. "Besides, Sucy's right. We might as well buy some while its legal. And Ursula-sensei won't mind us getting a little high. So what do you say? Are you with us or what?"

She watched Diana sigh and look back up at her. "I guess I'm in." The other girls cheered but Akko felt herself blush. She wondered if she had hurt Diana's feelings.

* * *

Eventually the girls returned from the dispensary with Sucy having hid the weed she purchased from it from the rest of her bandmates. They had even hit up a local supermarket and picked a variety of snacks ranging from simple potato chips to pork rinds to chocolate covered almonds, as well as an assortment of sodas. Diana was deeply curious and rather worried about what was going to happen next. This all seemed like it was something akin to a youthful sleepover and not so much of a drug binge as she thought it would be. "What is going to happen tonight?" she thought to herself. She was not only curious but, and she hated to admit this, she was actually scared. What if the marijuana was poisoned, laced with some deadly concoction? What if she was allergic to the green plant? A million questions raced through her mind.

Eventually they all sat around in Lotte, Sucy, and Amanda's room, where Sucy drew a small purple piece from her backpack as well as a grinder for the weed. Diana watched closely as Sucy undid the packaging for the buds. Immediately after the puce haired woman opened the package the room was filled with a highly sharp and pungent odor that made Diana cover her mouth. "What in the name of all that is holy…" Diana said before coughing. "Why does it smell so strong?"

"God damn, Sucy," Akko said as she held her fingers over her nose. "Did you have to get the smelliest weed in the whole dispensary?"

"You know I only go for the most bubonic chronic out there, Akko," Sucy said with an evil smirk. Diana watched as Sucy began to grind the buds down into smaller pieces. The grinding did nothing to make the smell go away, and Diana kept her hand over her mouth and nose. She still couldn't believe just how smelly the marijuana was.

After Sucy finished grinding down the weed and placing it into her piece Diana watched closely as Sucy heated the weed with a lighter and proceeded to inhale a large amount of smoke from the piece she was holding. Diana watched what Sucy was doing closely and paid even close attention as the piece was passed about with her band members. Diana watched as each member proceeded to inhale a large amount of smoke from the weed and cough heavily as they inhaled the smoke. And finally it came to her.

"You're up, Princess," Amanda said.

"I really don't think I should be doing this," Diana said.

"Why not?" Lotte asked curiously.

"Well I mean smoke could really hurt my voice and I…" Diana began.

"Oh come on we're not even close to recording the vocals yet," Amanda said.

"And some weed won't hurt your vocal chords at all," Sucy said. "You'll just have a little bit of a cough at first. Now come on, take a hit."

Diana rolled her eyes and took the piece away from Akko. She looked back over at the Japanese girl with a confused look, unsure of what she was supposed to do. Akko, who now had pinkish eyes and whose breath smelled like weed, looked over at her with an equally confused look.

"Don't tell us you don't know what to do," Sucy said. The puce haired woman and Amanda both snickered.

"Come on, back off," Akko said. Diana raised her eyebrow. Why was Akko defending her again? But this time she greatly appreciated it, because she could tell she looked like a massively green square in this act of seemingly calm debauchery. "You really don't know what you're doing here, do you?"

"I've never smoked anything in my life," Diana said. "But I'm in this with the rest of the band…" She looked over at Akko and tried her hardest not to say "and with you". "I might as well give it a try."

Sucy passed Akko the lighter and Akko lit the piece up again to heat up the weed before putting the piece up to Diana's mouth. Diana took it and put it into her mouth. It tasted like ashes.

"Okay so," Akko said. "What you're going to do is really simple. When I say pull you're going to start breathing in." Akko then showed Diana a hole at the end of the piece. "I'm going to put my finger on this hole and you'll keep breathing in. You inhale the smoke and then exhale."

"That's all?" Diana said as she held the piece in her hand.

"That's all," Akko said. Akko then took the piece and put it up to Diana's mouth. Diana wrapped her lips around the end. "You ready?" Diana nodded her head. "Okay. Now pull."

Diana began to breathe in slowly as oxygen began to fill her lungs. After three seconds of breathing Akko put her hand on the end of the piece. Diana could immediately feel the smoke begin to fill her mouth, throat, and lungs. She wanted to cough and stop the pull, but she was determined to not make a fool of herself. Digging deep and using the lung power she had cultivated from years of singing opera she continued to pull on the piece. In fact she kept pulling so much that all her bandmates began to feel their eyebrows raise to the top of their heads. When Diana could no longer take it and breathed out some of the thick smoke the other women had their jaws dropping to the floor. Diana coughed heavily before looking up at her bandmates.

"What?" Diana said. She could already feel some gentle but comfortable tingly feelings coming over her body. Her bandmates still looked shocked.

"You're going to be so fucking high," Sucy muttered in shock.

Diana shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the floor. "So what," she began to giggle. "So what if I'm so high? Isn't that the point of smoking marijuana?"

The other bandmates laughed at the fact that Diana still called it marijuana, but Akko looked at her worried, which Diana didn't understand. All Diana felt was pleasurable sensations and a need to eat something, which she did by opening a bag of Xotchil tortilla chips and chowing down voraciously. Diana's bandmates couldn't help but laugh. She didn't even care that when Akko sat down next to her and brushed her shoulder against hers, sending a tingling warmth up her body. This time she welcomed it instead of being confused, but she was certain that the high was at least playing some of a part as to what she was feeling.

"We should do something fun," Akko proposed as she sat down next to Diana and pulled the chips away from her. Diana gloomed at Akko for taking the chips. She desperately wanted more. "Like sing a song."

"What kind of song should we sing right now?" Amanda questioned. "We're all so fucking high we'd probably stumble over the words."

"I just wanna chill," Lotte said as she sat against the bed and ate some chocolate chip cookies.

Akko thought about it for a moment before her face glowed with an answer. She pulled out her phone and texted a link to Amanda and Diana. "This one."

Diana curiously opened up the link and looked over the song. "No," Diana said. She began to chuckle and slapped her knee. "No no no I'm not." She began to laugh harder. "I'm not singing this. I'm not singing this."

"Oh come on," Akko said. "It'll be fun!"

"Do you not see how vulgar this is?" Diana laughed. "It's positively obscene, more obscene than anything you've ever written."

"But you're not going to do it alone," Akko said. "You'll sing it with Amanda and I. Okay?"

Diana felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She wouldn't be doing it alone? She still felt the song was incredibly obscene, but in her drug induced state she didn't seem to care very much. But the fact that she wasn't doing it alone made her feel much more comfortable. "I'll do it," she said. "But only the least obscene parts. So that means the…" she looked at it closely. "The Dr. Dre verse and maybe part of the Jewell verse."

"Oh you'd sound killer doing the first part of Jewell's verse!" Akko said. "I'll do Snoop's parts and Amanda you can do Tha Dogg Pound parts."

"I guess I'm fine with that," Amanda said with a roll of her eyes.

"Sucy, can you break out your bass? We need a beat to go along with this."

Sucy shook her head and walked out of the room to go get her bass. When she came back she held it in her lap as she sat down and ran her fingers over the strings in a back and forth motion, trying to get a beat that would fit the song. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Lets do it," Akko said. "Give us a countdown Lotte."

"One, two, three, four!"

 **Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks**

Sucy slapped some notes on her bass and the body of the song began. **  
**

 **Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks  
** **Lick on these nuts and suck the dick  
** **Gets the fuck out after you're done  
** **Then I hops in my ride to make a quick run**

 **Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks  
** **Lick on these nuts and suck the dick  
** **Gets the fuck out after you're done  
** **Then I hops in my ride to make a quick run.**

Diana breathed in heavily and began to laugh at Akko spitting rhymes in a slick, smoky voice. Even though she was saying some incredibly obscene things it was still absolutely hilarious. Diana nearly fell over laughing.

"Come on, it's your turn," Akko said with a giggle as Sucy continued to thrum away notes on her bass. "And no need to sing it heavily. Just rap it out, okay?"

Diana sat up and cleared her throat before going on. She had never rapped anything before but was going to give it her best shot.

 _I used to know a bitch named Eric Wright  
_ _We used to roll around and fuck the hoes at night  
_ _Tighter than a motherfucka with the gangsta beats  
_ _And we was balling on the motherfucking Compton streets  
_ _Peep, the shit got deep and it was on  
_ _Number 1 song after number 1 song  
_ _Long as my motherfucking pockets was fat  
_ _I didn't give a fuck where the bitch was at  
_ _But she was hanging with a white bitch doing the shit she do  
_ _Sucking on his dick just to get a buck or two  
_ _And the few ends she got didn't mean nothing  
_ _Now she's suing cause the shit she be doing ain't shit  
_ _Bitch can't hang with the streets, she found herself short  
_ _So now she's taking me to court  
_ _It's real conversation for your ass  
_ _So recognize, and pass to Daz_

Now as I'm rolling with my $% ! Dre and Eastwood  
Fucking hoes, clocking dough, up to no good  
We flip-flop and serve hoes like flapjacks  
 **( But we don't love them hoes)** Bitch, and it's like that  
This is what you look for in a ho who got cash flow  
You run up in them hoes and grab the cash  
And get your dash on  
While you're chilling with your homies and shit  
And how my $% ! kick the anthem like this  
 **(Biatch)**

Diana couldn't help but start laughing again, which made everyone raise their eyebrows. "What the hell are you laughing at?" Amanda questioned with a chuckle.

"What the…" Diana said through all her giggles. "What does it mean to get a hoe with cash flow, grab the cash, and get your…" Diana couldn't help it and began to laugh boisterously. She heard Lotte and Akko begin to laugh with her and realized she was making an ass of herself, but she didn't care.

"Shut up already, Princess," Amanda chuckled. "Come on, Sucy. Keep up that funky bass shit."

Sucy rolled her eyes and began to play her bass again while Akko cleared her throat and began to sing again.

 **Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks  
** **Lick on these nuts and suck the dick  
** **Gets the fuck out after you're done  
** **Then I hops in my ride to make a quick run**

To the store, to get me a 4-0  
Snoop Doggy-Dogg paged, that must mean more hoes  
So I head down the street to Long Beach  
Just so I could meet a freak  
To lick me from my head to my feet  
And I'm here, now I'm ready to be done up  
Nothing but homies around, so I puts my gun up  
Bitches on my nuts like clothes  
But I'm from Tha Pound and "we don't love them hoes"  
How could you trust a ho? **( Why?)  
** Cause a ho's a trick  
We don't love them tricks **( Why?)  
** Cause a trick's a bitch  
And my dick's constantly in her mouth  
Turning them trick-ass hoes the fuck out now

Diana started laughing loudly again and fell onto the floor. "What is this?" she cackled. "Seriously, what are we doing? What do you mean 'how could you trust a ho'? And why is a ho a trick?"

"Oh my god you're so fucked up," Sucy said with a shake of her head. "Come on, I'm keeping this song up. No more interruptions."

 **I once had a bitch named Mandy May  
** **Used to be all in them guts like every day  
** **The pussy was the bomb, had a &% ! on sprung  
** **I was in love like a motherfucka, licking the pearl tongue  
** **The homies used to tell me that she wasn't no good  
** **But I'm the maniac in black, Mr. Snoop Eastwood  
** **So I figure #$% wouldn't trip with mine  
** **Guess what? Got gaffled by one-time  
** **I'm back to the motherfucking county jail  
** **6 months on my chest, now it's time to bail  
** **I gets released on a hot sunny day  
** **My % &*! D.O.C. and my homie Dr. Dre  
** **Scoop in a coupe, "Snoop we got news  
** **Your girl was tricking while you was draped in your county blues"  
** **I ain't been out a second  
** **And already gotta do some motherfucking chin-checkin'  
** **Move up the block as we groove up the block  
** **See my girl's house, "Dre, pass the Glock"  
** **Kick in the do', I look on the flo'  
** **It's my little cousin Daz and he's fucking my ho, yo  
** (Bitches ain't shit)  
 **I un-cock my shit  
** **I'm heart-broke but I'm still loc'ed  
** **Man, fuck a bitch**

"So his cousin was having extramarital relations with this guy's girlfriend?" Diana laughed. "Oh what a story. What a freaking story."

"Diana!" Akko exclaimed. "You're so ridiculous. Just calm the hell down."

"I can't help it!" Diana laughed.

 **Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks  
** **Lick on these nuts and suck the dick  
** **Gets the fuck out after you're done  
** **Then I hops in my ride to make a quick run  
**

 **Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks  
** **Lick on these nuts and suck the dick  
** **Gets the fuck out after you're done  
** **Then I hops in my ride to make a quick run**

Bitches ain't shit

Sucy paused the song as Akko leaned in next to Diana. Diana was still giggling and took back the Xotchil chips before Akko's hair brushed up against her cheek. Diana felt the blood rush to her face and goosebumps come all over her. Akko's hair was soft and up close it looked so deeply brown that Diana couldn't take it.

"Okay so," Akko said. "I don't want you to rap this last part but…" Akko said pointing up to a certain line on her phone. "I want you to belt it, like you were an opera singer. But in like an alto-tenor voice, not a soprano. Can you do that?'

"I was made for this," Diana said with a giggle and a smile. With that she cleared her throat and Sucy went back to playing her bass.

 _I don't give a fuck about a bitch_  
 _But I and her know that they can't fade this_  
 _Cause I'm doin my own thing down with the swang_  
 _I'm hanging with Death Row like it ain't no thang_  
 _I say you know you can't deal, cause I'm a bitch that's real_  
 _Motherfuckers need to step back, hell yeah they need to chill_  
 _Because I don't give a fuck, and I don't give a fuck_  
 _And I don't give a fuck, I don't give a fuck_

 **And now I gotta do some shit that's clean**  
 **But when I'm on a dick, hell yeah, I get real mean, hah**  
 **Like a washing machine I can wash the clothes**  
 **All the hoes knows that I'm on the flo', ho**  
 **But they can't hang with my type of swang**  
 **I ain't trying to say I suck every ding-a-lang**  
 **But just the juicy ones with the tip of the tongue**  
 **And then they're sprung, and with the nuts hung**

Bitches ain't shit

Diana couldn't help but laugh as Sucy finished out the song with a quick bass solo and everyone in the room laughed. Diana also couldn't stop herself from reaching around and wrapping Akko up with her arm and pulling her in close. "You're so awesome. I'm glad I'm your bandmate."

"I'm glad you're my bandmate too," Akko giggled. "You're really cool."

"No you're cool," Diana said with a laugh.

"No you," Akko said.

"Come on no back and forth shit," Amanda said. "Lets just chill and get our munchies on."

Akko and Diana both rolled their eyes and Diana went back to eating her chips. This time though she let Akko have some as well and the fun continued on into the night.


	14. A Secret Show

**AN: Another chapter in the books! Glad I could finally get this one out, this was not an easy chapter to write but I'm very happy with how it turned out. Hope all of you enjoy it!  
**

 **Two songs by A Wilhelm Scream appear in this chapter (finally!): God Loves a Liar and Dreaming of Throwing Up. Give them a listen when they come up.**

 **The vocal scheme for the song is as follows:**

 _All lyrics in italics are sung by_ Diana  
 **All lyrics in bold are sung by Akko  
** All lyrics underlined are sung by Amanda  
 _ **Any combination signifies a harmony**_

 **Thank you for all the support and please critique as always!  
**

 **Kind Regards,**

 **Symbiotic**

* * *

Now that the smoking session was complete and Sucy had gotten her high it was back to recording the bass lines for the upcoming album. Diana watched closely as Sucy sat in the same chair that Akko had sat in during the recording of the rhythm guitars and ran her fingers against the strings of her bass, her hooked fingers plucking away at the strings while her hands moved up and down the fretboard. She had never seen a bassist record before and had only seldom worked with upright bass players in the various ensembles who backed up her opera performances. Watching Sucy play with her bass guitar with something entirely different. For one thing bass guitar could be played in a number of different ways; plucking the strings with her fingers which was Sucy's method of choice, playing with a pick as Sucy showed her but did not record, and even tapping the strings upon the frets, which Sucy was doing now during a session of laying down the bass lines for '5 to 9'.

"I want you to really focus on breaking down those arpeggios," Ursula said as she watched Sucy play the bass. She enunciated the bass riff that Sucy was playing to the puce haired woman and then went back to recording a take. Diana again studied Sucy's close movements over the fretboard of her bass, watching with a degree of awe as the puce haired woman attacked the strings furiously with the tips of her fingers against the frets, producing a noise that Diana actually found pleasant.

"Good work," Ursula said. She moved the clip around in Pro Tools. "Now do it again."

Sucy rolled her eyes and played the tapping lick one more time, following Ursula's instructions as she hammered out the line again and nailed the take in one sitting. Diana nodded her head impressed. Sucy, of all the members, seemed to nail her parts quicker than anyone else.

"That was great, Sucy," Ursula said with a smile, moving the clips around in Pro Tools.

"You really know what you're doing, don't you?" Diana remarked from her seat on the couch.

"I try," Sucy said nonchalantly as she went back to plucking away at the strings of her Music Man Stingray SUB bass, rapidly running three fingers over the strings.

"How did you learn to play the bass the three fingers?" Diana asked.

"A lot of practice," Sucy said. "I taught it to myself when I wanted to start playing more up tempo stuff. I can only play so fast with two fingers. Once I reached certain speeds I had to use three." She flexed her fingers in front of Diana. "I really gotta use it now considering how fast we're playing. This kind of music doesn't really work if the bass is slow."

Diana nodded her head and watched Sucy go back to recording the bass lines for '5 to 9', this time recording the interlude lines between the first verse and the intro to the song. The puce haired woman's fingers continued to move like a hummingbird over a feeder as the lines were recorded, Ursula again pushing her to her best. Diana meanwhile turned back to her notebook and continued to scribble down ideas as they came to her, writing them and erasing them as they came to her.

As Sucy continued to record the bass lines Akko, Amanda, and Lotte all returned to the studio with glasses of soda and food in their hands. Akko had grabbed herself another spam tamago musubi that had been resting in the fridge and was munching away on the Asian delectable before sitting next to Diana. This time Diana did not move away. She simply let Akko sit as close as she wanted to her.

"How goes the bass?" Akko asked.

"We're almost done with '5 to 9'," Ursula said. "Sucy has been on point with her lines. Its made things very smooth."

"Can't say that about you and your rhythm tracks, Akko," Amanda snickered. Akko let out a huff and crossed her arms.

"Yeah yeah," Akko said. Diana couldn't help but give a small smile, which she found herself surprised she was giving of all things. Most people would find it bothersome how thin skinned Akko could be, but Diana knew it was just because of her passion. "So, you still scribbling things in that notebook?"

"I haven't finished yet if that's what you're trying to imply," Diana said. Akko shrugged her shoulders. "I assure you once I am ready I will show you what I have been working on."

"What are you working on a song over there or something?" Amanda remarked as she sat down onto the floor with a bottle of beer in her hand. "Or are you just working on the next great epic poem?"

Diana felt the blood rush to her cheeks and come across her nose slightly. "More so the latter than the former," she said, lying through her teeth. "I've always had a soft spot for long epic poetry."

Amanda shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of her beer, not bothering to press the question further. Once again Akko sat up next to Diana and brushed shoulders against her. And once again the tingling feeling shot up Diana's side and made her blush even further. Thankfully for her sake she was able to conceal the blush from the Japanese girl, at least she thought so.

"How far are we into the bass lines, Sucy?" Akko asked as she ate her food.

"I think we're about seven songs in," Sucy said. "We've been working on them pretty face."

"Sucy is always at the top of her game when it comes to recording if you haven't guessed," Akko pointed out.

"What can I say? I like the studio." She began to run her fingers rapidly along the strings again as another section of '5 to 9' was tracked via her bass running directly from her head into the mixing console. It took only a few more minutes but the song was completed. "Plus me getting high helped relieve a lot of tension and got me more in the zone."

"You're not high now, are you?" Diana said with a raised eyebrow. Sucy gave her a deadpan stare. "I guess not."

"Well it's a good thing everyone is here," Akko said as she finished the last of her food. Diana winced at the way Akko spoke with her mouth full. "Because I wanted you all to know I arranged a secret show for us at a local club."

"You did what?" Diana said, baffled by what she was hearing. "You arranged for us to play a show?"

"I figured it would be a good idea to play the new music in front of some people," Akko said. "Then we could gauge…"

"That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard," Diana shot back. Akko raised her eyebrows to the top of her head. "We're only just recording these songs and we've made adjustments to them on the fly in the studio with Ursula's input. Now you want to go out and play them live before they're even done?"

"I mean I just wanted to gauge interest," Akko said.

"Well if that's the case I refuse," Diana stated firmly. "I'm not playing songs that aren't finished on a live stage."

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I second Princess," Amanda said. Diana rolled her eyes at the nickname. Maybe that was something she'd always take a bit personally.

"I third that," Sucy said. "The songs are in the middle of the recording process, which frankly means they're half baked at best. We haven't even gotten to the vocals and you know some things are inevitably going to be changed there, Akko. And if the vocals change in some way than we're going to be especially unprepared."

"Plus we haven't even decided what songs will appear on the final version of the album," Diana said. "We can't just play new material that we're going to end up leaving off the recording. That would be a total waste of time and a major letdown for our fans."

"But I already booked this show," Akko said shocked. "And now you guys don't want to play it?"

"We're not saying we don't want to play the show, Akko," Diana said. "Just not the new songs. We'll have to find a more appropriate venue to debut those."

"Why not just do a show with songs off the two albums that we haven't really played live a lot?" Sucy proposed.

"Hey that sounds like a great idea," Lotte said. "It would be fun to play some songs that we haven't played in awhile. I could already think of a set list too."

Diana watched Akko put her finger on her chin and think about it. "Yeah you know what, that would be a lot of fun. I guess we could do that instead of playing the new songs. But you sure you guys don't even just want to play 'I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz'?"

"I'm certain," Diana replied.

"Second that," Sucy said.

"I agree," Lotte said.

"No new songs," Amanda said. "Other than that, lets play a show."

Diana watched Akko sigh in defeat. "Alright, but we better rehearse the living daylights out of these songs if we're going to play them live. Anybody have any ideas of what it should go like?"

The other members of A Seed of Sorrow put their fingers to their chins and began to think, but Diana immediately knew the answer. In a non contemplative fashion atypical for herself, Diana quickly made her thoughts heard. "I know how we should begin and end the setlist." And with that she gave her ideas.

* * *

The members of A Seed of Sorrow decided to take some time to get out of the studio and head again down to Edora. Diana immediately took the chance to drop into the bowl and skate around its lipped edges, taking herself up on an impromptu race of sorts with Amanda as the redhead remained hot on her heels around the edges of the bowl. She deftly maneuvered her board around the sides of the bowl, keeping Amanda away as best as she possibly could before she ran out of momentum and reached the bottom of the bowl. Amanda stopped at next to her and wiped some sweat off of her brow.

"You sure you've never skated a day in your life?" Amanda questioned.

"I'm not lying to you," Diana said.

"Never snowboarded, skied, anything like that?" Amanda asked.

"Aside from riding a bicycle I have never done anything like skateboarding before I was introduced to it by you and Akko," Diana said. She picked up her board with her foot and held it at her side before walking back up to the lip of the bowl. "That was a good run, shall we do it again?"

"I'm down," Amanda said. She went to climb the lip of the bowl with Amanda in tow, hoisting the redhead up with her hand after she climbed over the lip. "I'm really impressed with how quickly you pick up on things."

"Thank you," Diana said. She looked over to her right and saw Akko, who was next to a rail, trying to ollie the best she could. While she was able to do it occasionally, she wasn't able to perform the maneuver consistently and that left her unable to do much more than basic ground tricks. Grinds, board flips, and even more advanced vert tricks were out of her reach without the ability to ollie consistently. "She sure tries hard."

"Who, Akko?"

"No, that teenage brat wearing the Rockies cap," the blonde said sarcastically. Diana shook her head. "Of course I mean Akko."

Diana went back to putting her board under her feet and kicked off, skating toward the Japanese girl with Amanda in tow. "Do you like Akko?" Amanda questioned.

Diana nearly fell off her skateboard onto her back. Did she like Akko? That was something she had never thought of too hard. Did she like Akko? How did she really feel about the Japanese woman she had the pleasure of calling her acquaintance and her bandmate? Acquaintance? Surely Akko was more than just an acquaintance by this point. She didn't hundreds of miles away from home to stay with an acquaintance in a studio for a few months, would she? But was Akko more than just an acquaintance? Perhaps even more than a friend? That couldn't be. Was her latent sexuality actually finding someone attractive once again.

"I suppose I do," Diana said. "She's a good friend to me."

"Just a good friend, huh?" Amanda said as she dismounted her board next to Diana. "Do good friends really let their friends stare at their tits in a game of strip poker?"

"Amanda O'Neil!"

"Lighten up, Diana," Amanda said with a roll of her eyes.

"What are you trying to insinuate?" Diana said, deeply insecure about the fact that she appeared to be outed in front of her bandmates.

"All I'm saying is that if you see Akko as more than a friend," Amanda began. Diana swallowed nervously and braced herself for an onslaught of taunting. "That you have a shot."

Diana felt the breath leave her lungs and her hands freeze in the breezy summer Colorado air. She had a shot? What was that supposed to mean? Why would she care if she had a shot with Akko? What did that even matter? Why was that ever so important that Amanda would even mention that in the first place? Was she trying to be sincere? Was she trying to lead her into a trap? All the uncertainty weighted massively on Diana's shoulders and she was frankly scared to ask any further. Somehow though, in a way that surprised her, she had the courage to speak up.

"What do you mean I have a shot with her?" Diana said.

"Don't tell anyone I said this but Akko swings both ways if you catch my drift," Amanda said.

"And you know this how?" Diana asked.

"It's amazing the things you learn about people when you're in a band with them," Amanda said with a smirk. "But if you want a shot with Akko yours is just as good as anyone else's. And who knows, maybe she wouldn't mind if you took a shot at her."

Diana raised her eyebrow and held her skateboard close to her "I certainly don't foresee that she wouldn't have an issue with me trying to court her, especially when I have no interest," she retorted. She was not fully certain about the last part. Was she actually certain that she had no interest? That was increasingly becoming a lie, or was it. This was all very confusing to Diana, and she didn't like it.

"Well if you change your mind don't be afraid to swing for the fences," Amanda remarked. Diana rolled her eyes and watched Amanda begin to mount her skateboard.

"Amanda," Diana said. "Why didn't you call me Princess before?"

"I don't know," Amanda said. "You'll always be a princess in my eyes because you're rich and a little bit prissy. But you're kind of cool so I figure maybe I'll give you a break. Sound good, Diana?"

Diana smiled gently and nodded her head. "I would love that."

Before she could say anything further she got a vibration in her pocket. Pulling out her smartphone, Diana went to look at the screen was given a most unpleasant surprise. "Damn it," she cursed. Amanda looked at her confused. "It's my aunt, Daryl."

"What some kind of nasty in law or something like that?" Amanda said curiously.

"Nasty yes, but we're related by blood, not marriage sadly," Diana said with a sigh. "I'm going to have to take this. We'll do our run in the bowl in a moment."

"Suit yourself." With that Amanda kicked her skateboard off and headed back toward the bowl. Diana meanwhile went and slid her finger across the touchscreen of her smartphone to answer the call.

"Diana Cavendish."

"Diana, my dear niece," Daryl said slickly. "How are you?"

"I'm quite fine, thank you," Diana replied. "For what do I have the pleasure of you reaching out to me today?"

"Oh no reason," Daryl said. "No reason at all except that you have left the estate for quite some time according to the servants." Diana clenched her fists. She hated that she was being ratted out. This was absolutely unacceptable. "You've been gone now for close to two weeks. Let me ask you, Diana, what would have compelled you to leave the Cavendish estate in Dartmouth for two whole weeks?"

"I am on a vacation, Aunt Daryl," Diana replied. "Is that so wrong of me?"

"On a vacation?" Daryl said. "A vacation to where, you say? You know you've been on a vacation since the spring, Diana. And now you have the nerve to leave the Cavendish estate for two whole weeks?" Diana heard her aunt chuckle on the other side of the line. For the first time in awhile she felt herself clenching her fists. She was doing everything she could to tolerate what she saw as a blatant disrespect to her. It was very hard to keep down. "So, what in the world could you possibly doing?"

"I'm with my significant other," Diana said calmly. "He has taken me to his family's vacation home."

"Oh really?" Daryl said. "Well that seems delightful. Where is this vacation home if I do ask?"

Diana paused and looked around her surroundings for a bit. "Maine," she said. "I'm up near Caribou, Maine. I've been relaxing by the lake with him and taking in the scenery. It has been quite pleasant."

"I see," Daryl said. "And by the way, Diana. What is this man's name? I don't believe you have told me."

Diana froze in her tracks. If there was one thing she wasn't good at it was being a liar, and she was sure Daryl didn't buy her excuse about going to Maine and would be poking around with the servants even more to figure out where she truly was. And now Diana needed some kind of an out, some kind of inspiration, that would sound convincing to her aunt. And she found it by briefly staring at Akko of all people. Surprised, she quickly blurted out her answer.

"His name is Adam," Diana said. She looked back over at Akko. "Adam Kagari."

"Adam Kagari," Daryl said slowly. "A most interesting name for a most interesting individual. I am sure then you won't be opposed to introducing me to him sometime in the future now, won't you, my dear niece?"

"I wouldn't be opposed at all," Diana said wrly. "Now what is the meaning for you calling me at this time? I know you must have something more to do than interrogate me when I am an adult and more than capable of making my own decisions."

"I suppose you're right," Daryl said. "But don't you forget that I am your legal guardian for the time being, Diana. Even if you are legally an adult I still get the final say on many matters." Diana swallowed. "But yes, I do have something to share with you. I have discovered a role that you would be most interested in."

"Oh do tell?" Diana said condescendingly. She really wanted her aunt to leave her alone. None of this seemed appealing to her.

"I have found you a role performing 'La Boheme' in London," Daryl said. "It would be perfect for you because you'd be close to your true home and it would…"

"I'm not interested," Diana said quickly.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Excuse me?" Daryl said.

"I'm not interested," Diana said. "I've performed in 'La Boheme' countless times and I have no desire to perform in it again for the foreseeable future. It holds no interest to me, even if it is being done in London. So if you want to catch my attention with a new opera you will have to try harder to impress me. Now if you'd be so kind, I have to go."

"Dear niece, won't you…" Daryl began.

"I'm leaving, Aunt Daryl," Diana shot back. "Good bye." With that Diana hung up and put her phone on mute, not willing to talk to her aunt any further than she already had. She looked over at the bowl and went to drop in. But as she skated over to the bowl she looked back over at Akko, who was still trying to ollie with Lotte and Sucy, and still struggling with it mightily. She couldn't believe that she had used Akko as the inspiration for a lie. Strangely enough she felt that wasn't fair to Akko in the slightest. Just what had gotten into her to make her do such?

And why did she care if she had a shot with Akko? And would she even consider taking it for whatever reason? Why did it even matter to her so much?

Did she like Akko as something more than just a friend? Something more than a sort of liberator who had made her life interesting and brought her on some kind of an adventure. Some kind of…

"You just going to stare off into space all day, Princess, or are you gonna ride this bowl with me?" Amanda called out.

Diana sighed and went to skate back over to Amanda. That reprieve from the nickname she disliked incredibly sure lasted long.

* * *

Before going off the play the show Akko went back to laying down more rhythm tracks on guitar with Ursula. She patiently laid down the tracks with as much precision as she could, desperately trying to limit the number of takes she was doing while her hands slid over the strings of the borrowed Les Paul as she played the chords of the songs. As typical Diana was there to watch her, which Akko didn't mind at all. In fact she was starting to find it weird if Diana wasn't watching her in the studio. Diana had strangely enough became a comforting presence on her in the studio. And she even made Akko want to leave a good impression in the studio. She wanted to do better when Diana was around. That was highly surprising, even to Ursula.

While Diana worked through a song and did a few takes on some chords she watched as Diana got up and left the studio. Akko found herself glooming mildly and proceeded to mess up some chords. "Damn it," she cursed. She did another take and proceeded to mess it up again. "Damn it!"

"You're getting yourself too stressed out," Ursula said as she deleted the clip in Pro Tools. "Just take it easy and play the chords tight like you were before."

"I know I know," Akko muttered. "I just…"

"Having a hard time doing it when Diana is in the room?" Ursula said with a wry smile. Akko found herself gasping and blushing across her face.

"N-no," she stuttered. "Diana has nothing to do with this."

"You don't have to lie to me, Akko," Ursula said.

Akko sighed and turned back toward Ursula. "Maybe I just want to impress her and not seem like I'm such an idiot in the studio. I know I'm not the best guitar player in the world and I want to show her I'm more than someone who can just strum a few chords."

"I think Diana knows that very well, Akko," Ursula assured her. Akko nodded her head and continued to blush. She still wasn't sure why she cared so much about what she was doing for Diana. Diana didn't really care how hard she sometimes struggled in the studio, did she?

"Sensei?" Akko asked. Ursula turned back to face Akko from her position at the computer screen. "How did you feel about your partner in 'All'?"

"What do you mean?" Ursula asked.

"I mean did you…" Akko asked.

"Did I have feelings for her?" Ursula said.

"I mean...I guess…" Akko said nervously. "I'm just curious because you never talk about her much."

Ursula smiled and sat back in her chair with her hands folded. "I think I did at one point. We spent a lot of time together and shared a lot of our work together. It was only inevitable that I had some feelings for her."

"Did you ever push for them to become something more than just feelings?" Akko asked.

"Did I?" Ursula said. She leaned back in her chair further and looked up at the ceiling with a contemplative look on her face. Akko could see her thinking long and hard about the answer to her question and made her feel upset that she may have offended the producer that she called a mentor. "I suppose at one point I might have tried, but I don't believe that they would have reasonably gone anywhere. I wasn't sure she shared the same feelings as me, and I don't regret not pursuing them. Still, I do muse about if I did at times. Maybe I do sometimes regret that I never tried to push things further." She sat back up in her chair. "All I can say is follow your heart with relationships, Akko, the same way you follow your heart with your music. You never know where it could take you exactly, but your heart will almost always bring you to a place of happiness."

Akko nodded her head and held the guitar in her hands. "Thanks, Sensei. I always know I can count on you for advice."

"Anything for one of the favorite musicians I've ever had the pleasure of working with and one of the best people I know," Ursula said, reaching over to pat Akko on the head and ruffle the Japanese girl's blonde hair. "Why don't we go back to recording some rhythm tracks. That way Sucy can lay down more bass lines and we can finish up more of these songs."

"Right," Akko said with a determined look on her face. Before she could strum away at a chord she heard the door to the studio open and saw Diana walk back in. Once the blonde took her seat on the couch and had her head buried in her Moleskin notebook Akko felt strangely content. She didn't even care what Diana was doing with the notebook. And while she still was curious and felt somewhat unsure as to what Diana was doing with the notebook she still was happy that Diana was back. And now that she was back Akko was determined to play just the way she had to. And she proceeded to do just that.

* * *

Finally the night for A Seed of Sorrow's secret show in Fort Collins came up. The show was at Jack Quinn's the band having taken over the stage area for the pub and had the tables cleared out for their gig. And even though it was supposed to be a secret show they nearly packed the house, punk rockers and their friends all packing the venue tightly and already bumping into each other's shoulders as they stood against the stage. Diana kept herself in the bathroom briefly before the gig, trying hard to warm up her voice and splash her face with water to get the nervousness out. Despite the fact that she had done many shows with A Seed of Sorrow, this time it was especially nerve wracking considering they were doing songs that they had not done in awhile and were not part of their regular setlist. And some of those songs had a tendency to really eat at Diana's core.

As she continued to prepare herself Akko walked in to the bathroom and saw her. "You okay?" Akko asked.

Diana picked her head up from the sink and wiped it off with a paper towel. "Yes," Diana said. "Yes I am. I'm just…"

"You don't have to be nervous," Akko said with a smile. "We're in this together."

"I know we are," Diana said. "Some of these songs we've never done live before or haven't done them in awhile. And this is going to be an interesting experience."

Much to her surprise Akko went up and put her hand on Diana's shoulder. "We got this," Akko said. "I know you can do it." With that Akko pulled Diana in close and rubbed their shoulders against one another. "We're a great team all of us together. We all have faith in you, Diana."

"You're too kind, Akko," Diana said with a blush on her face. "You're way too kind."

"What are friends for?" Akko said. Diana looked over and saw Akko had an equally deep blush on her face. Diana felt her heart flutter. Why was Akko blushing just as hard as she was? "So, you ready to go play?"

"Yes," Diana said. The look on her face became determined and she felt a fire warm up within herself. "I'm ready." With that she gently made her way out of Akko's grasp and walked out of the bathroom with the Japanese girl in tow. Out in the hallway, Amanda, Sucy, and Lotte stood, waiting for their two other bandmates. "Are you ladies ready?"

"Diana, we're born ready for this," Amanda said. Diana was happy Amanda didn't call her by her derogatory nickname. It made her feel better about going into the show. "How about you, you ready for this?"

"Akko and I are both quite ready, thank you very much," Diana said. She put her hand into the middle of the girls. "I believe now is the time to say 'kick ass'?"

She saw Akko looked at her surprised and watched the Japanese girl and her bandmates put their hands on top of Diana's. "On three," Akko said. "One, two, three…"

"Kick ass!" the five ladies said in unison. Diana took her turn to chuckle on the gesture that she had grown to appreciate over time. It was one that she had looked increasingly forward to as the amount of gigs she played went on.

With that the members of A Seed of Sorrow took the stage and plugged in their instruments, doing a quick soundcheck before Diana took the microphone while Akko, Amanda, and Sucy made adjustments to their amplifiers. "Fort Collins," Diana said into the microphone. The crowd cheered boisterously. "Fort Collins this is an amazing welcome for someone like me who has never been here before." She paused before speaking again after a head nod from Akko, who stood alone on her right. "We're a A Seed of Sorrow and we're from New Bedford, Massachusetts. It feels great to be back and I am excited to play for you for the first time."

With that Akko stopped on her chorus pedal and turned on the clean channel of her Mesa amplifier. Diana watched as she finger picked some clipped clean notes with her setup before turning back to the bride pickup on her Les Paul, the high gain channel on her amplifier, and shutting off the chorus pedal before drawing a pick from her pocket. With that her and Amanda began to play a staccato riff with some open chords before going into a slick section that led into an upper fret riff. Diana lightly bobbed her head on the small stage while Akko, Amanda, and Sucy banged their heads as the riff was played. And then Akko and Amanda took their place near the microphones and Diana leaned in on her left knee toward the audience.

 _ **Don't forget to waste your blood**  
 **and mix it with your tears now.**  
 **Don't forget to waste your love inside me to crawl out.**  
I know it's here inside._

After Akko played a quiet riff the song quickly erupted into a fast section that featured Lotte drumming rapidly while Diana went to belt out the lyrics.

 _Why am I so afraid?_  
 _ **God loves a liar!  
God loves a liar!  
(woah)  
**_ **It's turning on me now.**

The quiet picking began again after Akko gently delivered her last line of the chorus. Diana loved the emotion that came off of Akko's voice as she delivered her line of lyrics. It sounded so gentle yet so hurt, just the way that Diana had come to know Akko's voice and she had come to love it. But before she could begin Amanda began a tapping lick while Akko continued to strum away at chords with her and Amanda got to their microphones with Diana.

 _ **Accidents are what follows.**_  
 _ **If only you could see her now.**_  
 _ **Don't mistake someone's daughter's crying for fuck sounds.**_  
 _For rainy days you're mine._

The line about "fuck sounds" struck Diana hard, as it had from when she first practiced this song with her bandmates. But before she could ruminate on it further she was forced to come back into the song and project herself into the chorus.

 _Why are we so afraid?_  
 _ **God loves a liar!  
God loves a liar!  
(woah)**_  
 _ **God loves a liar!**_

The song went into a quiet breakdown before Akko took her position again at the microphone. This was her solo.

 **Today is the day that I laugh for the fun of it.**  
 **Today is the day that it tears me apart.**  
 **Today is the day I defile your saccharine way, or at least take aim.**

Akko's quiet voice made Diana shiver and hold her breath. Akko always made her feel this way during her parts.

 _ **Today is the day that I drown for the fun of it.**  
 **Today is the day that I laugh in the dark.**  
 **Today is the day that I see myself for what I really am...**  
Dead to the world._

 _ **Liar!  
Liar!  
Liar!  
Liar!  
(woah)**_

An extended fade out ended the song and they moved onto the next track. Diana could still feel an adrenaline rush.

* * *

The show went as perfectly as Diana could have wanted it. The crowd was engaged, they played on point, and above all they sounded great vocally. That was what Diana was most proud of, and it was nothing to scoff at with how their voices meshed.

"Fort Collins, you've been absolutely awesome tonight," Diana said into the microphone. The crowd cheered in response. Diana looked back at her bandmates. They nudged her on with gentle gestures. "We got one more song for you tonight."

With that Diana swallowed and clenched her hand as she brought the microphone to herself. She hated this song, but not because it wasn't beautiful, for it was to her. It's lyrics were so grotesque and so personal to Diana that she couldn't help but hate the song. Yet something beyond the fact that it was on the setlist. But as Akko began to strum the chords to start the song Diana began her entry, her confidence and spirits began to rise.

 _So I'm looking at this bottle, and this bottle, it speaks to me._  
 _It says get off the fucking train, **so I jumped down.**  
 **These metaphors are for assholes, and I'm not different.**  
 **I'll get to what I mean, but slowly.**  
Roses and poetry; that's all you want to be?_

The song then went into its chorus, a rare section where her and Amanda sang without Akko before Akko came on her own.

 _It's not alive, and not dead._  
 _It's not alive, and not dead_  
 _It's not alive, and not dead_  
 **It's looking for a reason to be.**  
 _Not alive, and not dead._  
 **You give me goals impossible and I get further from my own.**

Diana gave Akko a nod and it was returned with a smile. She listened closely as Amanda and her took their places near the mics.

 **If these were lies then I wouldn't be leaving.**  
 **You had to need me.**  
  
 _I tried this once before._  
 _It's just as insulting._  
 _ **What for?**_

 _It's not alive, and not dead._  
 _It's not alive, and not dead_  
 _It's not alive, and not dead_  
 **Show me what you used to be!**

The song again broke down into a more melodic section and Akko and Diana interchanged vocal parts with one another. Diana loved every minute of it despite how grotesque the song could be.

 **Can we find a balance, a medium?**  
 _My anger was a heavy weight you bore._  
 **Now I'm balancing meteors.**  
 _I want to see you._

 _But not alive, and not dead._  
 _But not alive, and not dead._  
 _But not alive, and not dead._  
 **Show me what you used to be!**

 _I was looking at this bottle and the words made sense to me,_  
 _because it was all a fucking dream._  
 _A lie._  
 _I'm not alive, and I'm not dead.  
_ **I just see my goals are impossible and I get further from them all.**

With that the song slowed down and with some melodic chords they went into a slow breakdown section, Diana digging deep within as she went for the final words of the song.

 _ **These mocking words.**  
 **buried both.**  
 **What a world without you holds, I had to know.** _

The crowd cheered raucously and applauded at the performance. Diana gave thanks and looked back at her bandmates as they went to pack up their equipment. Before she could walk away from the stage Akko came up to her and put her hand on Diana's shoulder. "Great work there," she said. "I know that song isn't easy for you."

"It's better knowing you're singing it with me," Diana said. With that both of them paused and looked into their eyes for a moment, locking their gazes with each other in an almost trance like state. When they broke Diana didn't realize they both felt warm sensations in their body that were totally separate from the adrenaline high of the show.


	15. Glad You're Here

**AN: Finally I was able to get this one out!  
**

 **A lot went on in my personal life before the release of this chapter, but I ensure you that future chapters will be coming out faster now that I have my inspiration back and got some more ideas in my head. My only hope is that all of you stick by me and my work.**

 **No songs by A Wilhelm Scream appear in this chapter, but a bunch are going to be appearing in the next several chapters.**

 **Keep on critiquing and thank you for all the support.**

 **Kind Regards,**

 **Symbiotic**

* * *

After the secret show the members of A Seed of Sorrow left Jack Quinn's and went back to The Fountain of Polaris. The show had been a great success and had even generated a fair amount of spending income for what amounted to a one time small show. Money in hand and gear in the back of the van they returned to their creative hideaway and elected to go back to their rooms and sleep. And that was just what they did after they unpacked the van of their gear and took care of their late night grooming.

Akko herself felt restless from the adrenaline still pumping through her veins after the show. Instead of immediately going to sleep she pulled out her patch and went back to embroidering it, moving the needle in and out in patterns as she inched one step closer to completing the design.

She expected to be left alone while completing the design but was surprised when she heard a knock on the door, making her turn over in her bed to look toward the entrance. "Yeah?" she said.

"It's me," Diana said from the other side of the door. "Is it safe to come in?"

Akko raised her eyebrow. "Safe?"

"Am I going to…" Diana began. She paused from the other side of the door and Akko looked at it confused.

"Diana? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I just," Diana began. Rolling her eyes and not willing to be put up with Diana's stalling anymore, the Japanese woman got up from her bed and opened the door. And as she opened it she was greeted with a surprising sight. Diana was standing there in an ornate white nightgown. It was lacey and silk colored, much like the bra that Akko had seen her in before when they were playing strip poker back in Missouri. It was slightly see through around the abdomen and legs, making Diana's sculpted figure come into clear view to Akko's eyes. And most attractive to Akko was the way it cupped Diana's bust, making her chest stand up perfectly. Akko couldn't see Diana's cleavage through the nightgown, but at the moment she desperately wished she could. Everything was so attractive about the way Diana looked. She could hardly contain herself as she stood there watching the blonde singer, swallowing as she assured her that everything was fine and let her walk inside.

Akko didn't understand. She knew she had seen Diana wear similar nightgowns before when they went to bed, most ornate outfits that didn't necessarily fit with the punk rock aesthetic. And never before had she really taken notice of what she was seeing before her. But now she couldn't take her eyes off of the blonde heiress and her nightgown. Never in her life had Akko seen someone or something more dainty, more supple, dare she say more beautiful in her life. She couldn't believe what she was seeing right before her very eyes. It made her swallow nervously.

Akko wanted nothing more than to pull Diana in, run her fingers across the straps of that nightgown, and push them…

"Nope," she thought, her face becoming beet red. "Not going there, not going there, not going there at all." She swallowed again. "Gosh she is...she is...she's really pretty…"

"Akko?" Diana said confused.

"Huh what?" She shook herself again. "Oh yeah, it's safe. No worries at all. You can come on in."

"Thank you." Akko stepped aside and let Diana walk into the bedroom. As she walked in Akko looked over her shoulder to see that the nightgown also perfectly cupped Diana's rear end. She swallowed again but also found herself clenching her fists. She couldn't believe that Diana was so much prettier than her and didn't know why she cared all that much. And yet she couldn't get over how good Diana looked. Now she wasn't just staring at Diana's breasts but also at Diana's butt. To Akko, this was anything but positive.

She watched Diana go to the bed and pick the covers up to lay down. "Diana," Akko said. The blonde looked up at her with her piercing blue gaze. It was gentle but still incredibly disarming. It was one of singer's most potent attributes, one that Akko had been entranced and nearly intimidated by for awhile now. "Tonight was really fun."

"I agree," Diana said. "It was fun."

Akko watched Diana turn over in her bed and paused for a moment. She didn't want their interaction to end, not like this.

"Diana, I wanted to ask you something," she said.

"Yes?" Diana replied.

Diana turned over in her bed and Akko felt her gaze get locked with the piercing cerulean eyes of the blonde singer. "When we were playing 'Dreaming of Throwing Up' you seemed really distraught."

She watched Diana lean back defensively slightly as she laid on the bed. "Distraught? I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"It seemed like the song really hurt you or something," Akko said. She looked away bashfully, not believing she was being so considerate and yet so inquisitive toward Diana. "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't offending you or anything."

"None of your songs could ever offend me, Akko," Diana said with an assuring smile. "Even when they're so ridiculous and make absurd statements. But I do admit some bring back memories and make me think of things that have happened a long time ago."

" 'Dreaming…' makes you think of something?" Akko said.

"It does," Diana said. Akko watched her lay down and pull the comforters over her before turning back over. "It makes me think of an episode I had with someone who I thought I loved."

"Who you loved?" Akko said curiously. Now she hooked herself onto Diana's words, slaving her attention to every statement that Diana made. "What do you mean?"

She watched the blonde pause and turn again to face her. "In my travels around the globe I met many different individuals, some of whom I developed romantic fixations upon. And on a few of those people I was fortunate enough to have those feelings reciprocated."

"You've been in relationships?" Akko said curiously.

"A few," Diana said. "You know...to be honest…" She could tell Diana was struggling to let something out and gave her time to think it out. Akko was using all the tools in her playbook that Andrew had given her on the art of conversing. One of them was to lay back and let the person you were talking to you come to you first. And Akko was going to wait this one out as long as she wanted. It seemed like Diana would never say a word to her and that the conversation would end there. But before she could lay down and shut her end table lamp off to go to sleep something happened she didn't expect. "To be honest you might be able to call me a hopeless romantic at times."

"Huh?" Akko said. She turned back over to meet Diana's gaze. "A hopeless romantic?"

"Maybe that's not the right term," Diana said. "But even with all my focus on my profession I at one point truly longed to fall in love with someone. And for awhile, and maybe I still am, I was rather soft."

"Soft?"

"I fell in love quite easily, especially as I came into womanhood," Diana said. "I grew up rather lonely. I didn't have any siblings and not a lot of real friends, not to mention I was was bouncing between two countries quite frequently. It didn't leave a lot of time or opportunities to make a lot of lasting relationships, romantic or otherwise."

"Sounds like it was lonely," Akko said.

"Thinking about it now yes, yes it was," Diana said. "I used to keep myself somewhat closed off, but eventually I began to develop feelings for some of those people around me…"

"Like who?" Akko said. Diana paused again and Akko waited. She knew that she had Diana engaged and that any fits of silence were only brief moments for Diana to collect her thoughts, not disengagements from the conversation.

"People who I performed with," Diana said. "In the world of traveling performing arts there's a lot of...romance, a lot of hormones, a lot of…"

"Sex?" Akko said with a smirk.

Diana shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Yes. There was a lot of sex," Diana said. "And I wasn't necessarily above it."

Akko's eyes went wide and she felt her heart skip in her chest. How did she not see this? "Wait, you mean to tell me…" She struggled for ways to think of how to phrase her question. "You mean to tell me you've had sex before? Like actual consensual sex?"

"Several times in fact," Diana said. Akko watched Diana lean back in her bed before turning back to face her. Her cerulean gaze was as piercing as ever. "I had and still have my needs and desires, and I was under the impression that sharing bodies with someone meant love. I didn't realize that it wasn't always the case until this one incident."

"Incident?"

Diana paused again and Akko watched her closely. She could tell that she might have pushed too far, but she wasn't willing to let go. She actually wanted to find out more. And to her surprise Diana was more than willing to divulge further.

"When I was in Rome of all cities," Diana began. She rolls her eyes and continued. "There was this...person you may say...this person who I fell deeply in love with. We were performing _Tosca_. I was playing the role of Floria Tosca, and my lover at the time was playing Mario Cavadorossi. Those two characters fall deeply in love in the opera, and coincidentally I think all the passion we put out onto the stage slipped into each other off the stage. We were deeply attracted and I thought we were deeply in love with one another. This person had my whole heart in their hands, they had my everything. I was willing to give them anything and them some. I truly believed I was in love and found my soulmate."

"What happened?" Akko asked curiously.

Akko watched Diana sigh and lay back on her pillow. "One day the person began acting distant to me, at first only for a day but then for a few days at a time. I did investigating between the performances and...I found them sleeping with one of the stage hands. I walked in on them in the middle of their affair. And while I was chased and begged to come back, I gave up on them on the spot. They had taken my heart and thrown it into..." Akko watched Diana blink her eyes rapidly and pause again. She remained silent but watched her closely. She could tell Diana was doing everything in her power to hold back her emotions. "I ended up nearly committing suicide. I intended and came very close to drinking myself to death. When they found the me the next morning I had somehow leaned over in just the right way to not choke on my own vomit. I was taken to a hospital and nursed back to health, but my heart was still broken and I had to stare at their face every night for the next few months." Diana paused again. "At that moment I decided I would never give my body to anyone else unless we were truly in love. And I've never given up my body since."

"So 'Dreaming…' makes you think of all that," Akko said. "That explains why you sound so hurt when you sing it. It brings up painful memories, doesn't it?"

"It really does," Diana said.

Both of the women remained silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry," Akko said in a glum tone.

"Akko, you have nothing be sorry about," Diana said.

"I don't want my songs to dig up old dirt like that," Akko replied. "That song was just about embarrassing myself at a party in college. It was supposed to be a bit emotional yeah but nothing like what you described." She stopped again and looked away from Diana. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, Diana."

She clenched her eyes shut and struggled not to cry. The story that Diana had told her had dug deep into her gut and made her feel very self aware. She had no idea that her songs could bring out those kind of feelings and memories out of someone, especially someone like Diana. Not only that but she had no idea that Diana had ever led such an existence; that Diana had sex, that Diana had fallen in love. It was way more than she had ever expected.

"Akko, you have nothing to be sorry about," Diana said. Akko raised her eyebrows and turned back over to face Diana, once again locking herself with the blonde's cerulean gaze. "Despite the fact that the song brings up some painful memories...performing it has been cathartic in a way."

"Really?" Akko said surprised.

"I've had those emotions bottled up for so long and have been holding them back since I left the hospital that I suppose it feels nice to have a place where I can channel them for good use," Diana said. Akko looked over and watched her lay back in bed. "It feels kind of nice to know I have a place where I can take something so negative and let it out of me into something so positive. So if anything I should be saying thank you. I know you can't understand this fully, but your song has truly helped me begin to heal from that incident. So thank you, Akko. Thank you for helping heal some old wounds.."

Akko couldn't believe what she was hearing. Diana was happy to perform the song? Diana was happy to confront her negative memories? And she was healing her? That was something that Akko couldn't believe she was hearing. And yet she didn't want to question it. She only wanted to take it at face value, and that was what she chose to do, for nothing in Diana's gestures or tone could make her think otherwise.

"I'm glad I could help you," Akko said with a smile.

"And I'm grateful you've helped me too," Diana replied. "Now, let's get some sleep. I believe you and Sucy still have work to do with Ursula."

"Yeah," Akko said. She reached over to shut her lamp off. "Good night, Diana."

"Good night, Akko," Diana said. "Sleep well." With that Akko laid back in her bed, but not before catching a quick glance at Diana in the darkness. She could still see the skin of Diana's back through the lacy nightgown, and she loved everything she saw.

* * *

It was back to the studio for the next two days for A Seed of Sorrow. After recording the last of the bass lines and rhythm guitars it was time for Akko and Amanda to lay down the lead guitars and overdub parts. This was perhaps the most intricate part of the recording process, and from what Diana could tell it was clearly the hardest on Akko. She could see the Japanese girl labor through playing some of the parts were quite intensive for her, both from a playing perspective and from a backseat producing perspective. This part of the recording process involved laying down some of the solos, and those parts where ones that Akko was as hooked on as Ursula was.

At the moment the band was sitting around while Amanda recorded the solo for "I Wipe my Ass with Showbiz". It was hardly the most technical thing that Diana had ever seen Amanda play; many of the tapping licks and some of the riffs they played were far more intricate, and yet she was watching as Akko ruthlessly tore each of Amanda's takes down as the solo was repeated over and over again.

"Those pinch harmonics were played too fast."

"Are you out of your mind?" Amanda shot back. "I've done this solo for the past hour and a half and it's still not to the point where you like it?!"

"It's a chaos solo, Amanda," Akko explained. "It's gotta bring the energy and be absolutely nuts. Right now you're just playing it like any old guitar solo. I want you to really get into like Kerry King mode or something."

"Kerry King? Excuse me for not having a whammy bar to jack off with," Amanda said as she leveled her guitar in her lap again. "Let's do this thing again."

Diana watched as Ursula again played the song and Amanda began the solo, starting it by stomping on a gain boost pedal in her pedalboard to give the solo some extra sustain. After strumming her hand over the strings silently waiting for the part to come in, Amanda furiously hit the strings with her pick while pushing up in them with her finger tips, making the Schecter squeal through the amplifier. She did four pinch harmonics at one fret before picking backwards on the fretboard and holding out four more pinch harmonics and then doing a brief run upon a close pattern of frets. After playing the harmonized lead she played in unison with Akko the song finished out and the take was stopped. Diana watched Amanda look back over at Ursula and Akko before stomping on her gain booster to shut off the annoying hiss in the room emanating from the pedal.

"The pinch harmonics were too slow," Akko stated.

"Not rapid enough! Akko I'm gonna…"

Diana took note of all that was happening and reached down for the Moleskin notebook that she had at her side and wrote some things down. Amanda's struggling had quickly given her more ideas.

 _It's another day..._

Before Akko and Amanda could get into any kind of an altercation Ursula stepped between them and put her hands up. "I think we've spent as much time on this part as necessary for now," the blue haired woman stated. "Everyone here could clearly use a break."

"No kidding," Amanda said as she shut off her Peavey amplifier and set her guitar down. "I'm going to lay in my room and watch wrestling the rest of the day. Who's with me?"

"Can we smoke?" Sucy asked.

"Sure," Amanda said. "I wouldn't mind taking a few hits." She got up from her seat and stood up. "What about the rest of you? Are you coming or what?"

"I'm down," Lotte said as she got up from the floor. "It'd be nice to relax for the day. Akko? Diana?"

"I'm going to pass," Diana said. "I'd rather not get high today."

"You know, I don't feel like getting high today either," Akko said. "I think I'm gonna go out and get some fresh air, maybe explore Fort Collins a bit."

And it was then that a lightbulb most curious went off in Diana's mind. "Akko," Diana said. She couldn't believe she was about to say this. "Can I join you by chance?"

Diana watched Akko raise her eyebrows. "You want to go out with me for the day?"

"I suppose I would," Diana said. "I think getting out of the confines of this studio would be very beneficial to all of us, and I don't really have any desire to stick around our bedroom. I think getting out would be most desirable."

"And you want to go out with me?" Akko repeated.

"I suppose so," Diana replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "You're the only one who wants to go out, so I don't see any see any sense in us going off and doing separate activities, unless you want to do separate activities."

Diana watched Akko pause and throw up her hands. "No that's not it! I...I...I think it'd be cool to go out with you." Diana gave Akko a sideways look and noticed that the Japanese woman was blushing. She wondered why, and wondered even more why it made her blush as well.

Diana quickly snapped out of her swooning and turned to Ursula. "Ursula, can we please borrow the Forester again?"

"I don't see why not," the blue haired woman said with a smile. She reached into her pocket and passed Diana the keys to the blue SUV. "Be careful and have fun out there today."

"Thank you," Diana said as she held the keys in her hand. She turned her attention back to Akko. "Shall we be going then?"

"Yeah," Akko said with a smile. "Lets go."

* * *

Diana took her time driving the Japanese SUV out of The Fountain's driveway and down into the streets of Fort Collins. To be honest with herself she had no idea where she was going to go with Akko. She was happy to be out of the studio but had no plan in front of her as to just where they were going to go. And strangely enough she found that rather liberating. It was nice to know that she didn't have any kind of a schedule and any preset destinations for them to go to. It was just her, the Subaru, and Akko; just two ladies and an SUV. That to Diana was a more than fair way to spend a day.

She thought about just what it would be like to spend a day out with just her and Akko. Surely it wouldn't be that much different than spending it with any of the other members of A Seed of Sorrow or Ursula, would it? But then that was never the case with the Japanese woman. She always had a way of making things interesting and dragging people into those plans. Yet so far Akko hadn't suggested anything for the two of them to do. Diana wondered why, but didn't have time to think about it long.

"You know, I just thought of something really cool that we could check out," Akko said.

"Oh?" Diana said. "What would that be?"

"There's this place called the…" Akko's voice trailed off. "It's got a French name so I might just screw this up but...it's called Cache la Poudre...I think…," she said, saying the word poudre like "poo-dray".

"It's poo-der," Diana said with a half smile. "You were close. So this place is called 'The Powder Cache'?"

"That's right!" Akko said. She watched the Japanese girl raise her eyebrow. "Wait a minute, you speak French?"

"Depuis de nombreuses années maintenant," Diana replied. Akko looked at her confused. "I've spoken French for many years now."

"Really?" Akko said with an excited tone. "How did you learn that?"

"Well when you travel all over the world performing with people from different cultures you pick up on things," Diana said. There was a pause as Diana felt her heart flutter when she looked at Akko's face, which showed a level of impressed awe that Diana found very flattering. She quickly went back to the task of driving on the mountain road. "I wouldn't call myself fluent in any language beyond English but I'm conversational in at least six."

"Nihongo nitsuite no nanika?" Akko said with a smirk. Diana raised her eyebrow at Akko. "I guess you don't speak Japanese then." She watched Akko cross her arms and scowl a little. "Darn, I was hoping to have secret conversations with you."

"Secret conversations?" Diana asked curiously. "Why would you ever want to have secret conversations with me?"

"I don't know, I think it'd be fun," Akko said as she looked out the window. "I've never met anyone who speaks Japanese in the United States before. It would be kind of nice."

"With the way you speak English I would never guess that it was so hard on you," Diana said.

Akko turned back to Diana and waved her hands at the blonde. "Oh no no no, it's not hard on me at all! Please don't think that. I just wish I knew someone who I could speak Japanese to here in the states is all. That way we could be like special friends or something."

The two drove in silence for a few minutes before Diana had a question that piqued her interest. "How long have you spoke English, Akko?" Diana asked.

She watched Akko lean back in her seat and put her finger on her chin. "I started back when I was six. My dad used to travel for business to America when he was working for this one company, and one time he came back and brought me this three tape set I think geared for Latino kids to learn english because the main character spoke with this really corny pseudo-Mexican accent." Akko snickered before continuing on. "I think he thought it would be a cheap investment to improve my future. I was either going to not give a crap or pick up on it and go from there. And lucky for him really liked it. I really quickly picked up English and mastered all the conversational skills in those tapes really fast. My dad was so impressed he picked me up adult English course lessons for our computer and had me practice with him. I think I got so good at it I actually helped both him and my mom get better at English."

"Well you speak it such perfect diction and cadence," Diana said. "I would never guess you had to learn English to be as good as you are."

"Yeah but I sound like a 'bloody Yank' don't I?" Akko said with a chuckle. "I learned American English instead of learning the real deal UK thing."

"English is English, Akko," Diana said as she navigated the curves of the road, taking in the sights of the rock walls along the side of the road. "I'm just as impressed as anyone else is with your ability to master the language so perfectly."

"Heh thanks, Diana," Akko said sheepishly. Diana smiled gently in the direction of the Japanese girl. She really was as impressed with her skills as she expressed.

"So where is this place?" Diana asked.

"Diana, look! To your right!"

Diana looked out the right side of the windshield and felt her eyebrows go to the top of her head. There on the right side of the road was a beautiful, picturesque scene of a cliffside bluff with a river running beneath on a curved angle. Akko quickly directed Diana over to the side of the road at a scenic overlook, where the two women disembarked the Forester and went out to look at the scenery. Diana looked out and marveled at the sight of the river running rapidly underneath the trees. Diana also was given a lucky sight of an eagle flying overhead, landing on a tree next to the river and resting still on its branches. It was the first time Diana had ever seen an eagle in the wild, and it made her breathe leave her lungs.

"Wow," she muttered. She looked at the bird and the river closely. "This is amazing."

"I know, right?" Akko said as she stood there with her hands in her pockets. "I love coming out here. It's a great place to unwind and take a breather when I'm out of the studio." Akko looked over at her curiously. "Have you seen anything like this before?"

"No, I haven't," Diana said. She took her time to marvel at the scenery as she stood close to Akko. She wasn't aware of the distance and how close she was to it. "I haven't seen anything like this before."

"You never got to check out the scenery when you were out in your travels?" Akko said.

"No," Diana said as she watched the river go by, breath taken away by just how fast it was running and the rushing sound it was making. "I was always confined to the cities. I never got to explore the rural landscapes like this outside of the small game preserve we had on the Cavendish estate back in England."

"So what do you think of this place?" Akko said.

Diana paused and looked over at Akko. The Japanese woman's hair was flowing gently in the wind, her signature ponytail and dangling brown locks blowing gently in the wind. And even in her somewhat ragtag appearance comprised of a black and red NOFX tank top, baggy jean shorts, and some Converse sneakers, Akko still looked remarkably beautiful. She had this allure, this sort of street rat sexy, that she carried with her almost anywhere she went. "No," Diana thought. It wasn't just that Akko had this punk beauty to her. She couldn't believe she was thinking this but she thought Akko was genuinely beautiful no matter what way she spun it. Akko was attractive to her on a physical level.

"Diana?" Akko said. "Diana, you there?"

"Huh what?" She shook herself quickly once she realized what she was doing. She was staring at Akko and ogling her at that, a most impolite thing for someone like her to do. The last thing she wanted to be seen as was rude. "Oh I…" She kept on staring at Akko before looking back at the landscape. The eagle, which had been resting on a branch, took off and flew away into the wind. Diana watched it closely as it soared off toward the clouds. "It's beautiful. This place is truly beautiful."

She watched a shade of pink come across Akko's face and the Japanese girl looked away bashfully. Diana felt her own shade of pink come across her face and through the bridge of her nose. And in the moment she stepped closer to Akko and looked out closer at the rushing river and the trees, taking in the sight of the water contrasting with the greenery and the way that contrasted with the clouds and blue sky overhead. The day was so perfect, it was such a gorgeous way to spend time outside of the studio.

"You want to hit the nearby trail and do some hiking?" Akko asked. The Japanese girl gestured over to the entrance to a nearby state park trail that led up the bluff nearby. Diana at first was thinking she would refuse, as she didn't know if she was adequately prepared to hike anything, but soon her mind changed, and it changed rather quickly. It didn't take her long to think about just what she wanted to do with herself in this instance.

"I would love to," Diana said. "Just if you could...could you stay close, Akko?"

Diana inwardly kicked herself for asking something so juvenile. She felt she must have looked like a truly fearful and childish figure to Akko. But remarkably she watched as Akko walked over, reached out, and gently grabbed her hand. Diana felt warmth shoot right up her arm and the blush come across her face, which stayed there until Akko dragged her up toward the trail and with a wave of her head let her go. Diana nodded her head and went to follow her close. And although she desperately did not want to leave Akko's side as she made her way into the forest, she didn't feel unsafe as long as the Japanese girl was leading the way.

* * *

Although she knew that Diana wasn't exactly familiar with The Great Outdoors, Akko was surprised that Diana wanted her to stay so close. Akko knew she herself wasn't going to be much use as far as protecting herself or Diana from any kind of attack, whether it be from an animal or from some deranged person along the trail. She also wasn't exactly the best person to be a guide through the wilderness of Colorado, having only come through the state sparingly during her travels as a roving musician of the world. But the trail was clearly marked and only followed in one direction from the scenic overlook that she and Diana had disembarked from. And yet Diana insisted that they remained close. Akko found herself more than happy to oblige.

At first she didn't understand why, for she was at no liberty to making sure that Diana navigated the trail properly. Of course she didn't want Diana to get hurt or lost, but it seemed like a given that the blonde could fend for herself reasonably. And yet Akko found herself deeply concerned with the well being of her bandmate, which she thought she shouldn't necessarily be surprised given she would care just the same if it were Lotte, Amanda, or Sucy coming with her on this hike. But this was different. Akko was truly concerned for Diana's own well being. This went beyond just being a careful and considerate friend. This was something else entirely.

As they crossed up the bluff and through the trail, Akko realized she had some questions for Diana that she hadn't gotten the chance to ask the singer herself.

"Hey Diana," Akko said. The blonde looked up at her as they continued to navigate the trail. "I never asked you, how'd you get into opera?"

"Hmm?" Diana said. "How did I get into opera?"

"Yeah, how did you," Akko said as she trudged up the pathway toward the bluff. "You've never told me or anyone else in the band how you got into it."

There was a pause as the wind rustled the leaves and the two women hiked up the trail. Akko for a moment didn't think she was going to get any kind of an answer, but much to her surprise Diana began to speak up. "It's been in my family for many generations for women to sing. We've always been patrons of the arts and many in my family have partaken in them. It was my great ancestor Beatrix who was the first to sing in the opera. And from that point on most, if not all, of the Cavendish women, have sang in operas since."

"So it goes back a long time," Akko said.

"To at least the early 1700s in fact," Diana replied. They continued to make their way up the hill. "It was natural for me to come into the role as a soprano. My mother was a soprano and she I began teaching me, along with many singing coaches, at a very young age how to best utilize my voice. I was performing in youth musicals and operas around the same time you were learning English."

"You've been performing since you were six?"

"Yes I have. It's been quite a long time. And I was fortunate to have my voice mature in just the right ways when I grew older. By the time I was fourteen I was already traveling the world and performing in major operas at conservatories and private venues."

"Holy shit," Akko said as she made her way up the trail. "That's nuts."

"I suppose it was," Diana said. "But you've traveled the world under much more meager circumstances. I don't see how…"

"Yeah but not nearly as long as you have, Diana," Akko said with a shake of her head as she made her way up the hill. "Was it really as lonely as you made it out to be?"

"It was," Diana said. "It was very lonely. I didn't make many friends and didn't confide my feelings in anyone until I was much older."

"Except when it came to having sex," Akko said with a wry smile. She felt her heart do a somersault. She still had a hard time believing the fact that Diana wasn't a virgin. Not that she cared...but did she? Why was she so fascinated by this?

"Well that was at a much later date," Diana said. "To be honest I wasn't really allowed to have friends for a number of years."

"How come?" Akko asked with a raised eyebrow.

There was a pause briefly as the two women continued up the trail. Akko wondered for a moment if Diana wasn't speaking because she was winded or if she had struck some kind of nerve. But it didn't take long for her to respond. "When I was young, my mother fell ill with a rare autoimmune disease," Diana said as they continued to walk along the trail. Akko watched as Diana took her side and she could look into her cerulean eyes. They were very gentle but also holding some emotions inside of them. "She could no longer perform and I spent many months by her side. She wasn't long for this earth after that. She passed away only about a year after she became afflicted with the disease." Diana paused and Akko felt her heart sink into her chest. The story had clearly taken a turn for the worst. "After that I was under the guardianship of my aunt Daryl. And even though I am legally an adult she still handles most of my bookings and finances."

"I take it she doesn't know that you're out here recording a punk rock album," Akko said with a raised eyebrow.

"She doesn't know a thing," Diana said. "But to answer your question about why I had so few friends, Daryl never gave me a chance. It was booking after booking, show after show, conservatory study after conservatory study, I was never given a moment to slow down in the slightest. I never really had a chance to slow down. As far as I was concerned I was upholding the Cavendish tradition of performing arts. Friends weren't something that I was allowed to have for many years until Daryl slowly began to loosen the reigns. And even then it took me awhile to truly learn to socialize and not just go off the script that was established for me by my aunt when it came to meeting other individuals. It's because of my devotion, my desire to upkeep the near sacred duty of Cavendish women in the performing arts, and her doing that I kept myself so cold and reserved for so many years."

"That explains why you were so icy when you first met me," Akko said as she looked up at Diana.

"I apologize for that," Diana said. "I was very rude to you that day. I never intended to be so harsh with you."

"Hey I'm over it," Akko said with gentle jab at Diana's shoulder. "Besides, we're bandmates now. And that's what bandmates do. They resolve things and put them behind them. Otherwise the band just falls apart. And you know something, Diana?"

"What's that, Akko?"

Before they could speak further both Diana and Akko arrived at the end of the trail, at the top of a scenic bluff that overlooked the whole river and canyon below. Akko felt her breath go away slowly. The beauty of it all, from the lush green of the pines to the sound of the rushing water. And yet for all the natural beauty around her Akko thought none of it was as beautiful as the blonde standing right next to her, looking out with a gaze at the world that surprised her for its sheer wonder and amazement of the scenery that she saw before her. And nothing to Akko was more beautiful than that.

"I'm glad you're here with me and that you're my bandmate," Akko said with a smile. And then Diana replied with something most unexpected. After sitting down on the ground to take in the view, Diana offered her hand to Akko. And while she was initially shocked and a bit nervous, Akko took Diana's hand and sat down on the bluff with her, shoulders brushing up against one another and sending warmth into her body. Akko looked over at Diana and saw the blonde looking at her gently, her intense gaze still piercing but far more calm than it usually was.

"I'm glad I'm here too," Diana said. "And I'm glad you're my bandmate."

For a moment they sat on the edge of the bluff, and Akko didn't care that her hand was overlapping with Diana's.


	16. Through The Fire

**AN: Hey, another new chapter!  
**

 **The songs are going to start appearing en masse over the next several chapters. The one in this chapter is "Career Suicide", which I highly recommend listening to when it appears in the chapter.**

 **Feel free to critique as always and thanks for your support!**

 **Kind Regards,**

 **Symbiotic**

* * *

Akko and Diana made their way back down the trail and drove back to The Fountain after their moment atop the hill. They drove back in relative silence, but it was not one of contempt. For Akko it was a strangely calming silence, a gentle sense of ease that gave her some warm and rather fuzzy feelings. She wondered why this was the case. Surely Diana couldn't have brought those feelings on, could she? "No," Akko thought. "We're just friends."

And yet was that enough for Akko to say that the warm and fuzzy feelings in her body at the moment weren't enough to be caused by Diana? She wanted to question the matter further, but at the moment she didn't feel compelled to, and she wasn't sure why.

"So did you like the hike?" Akko asked, paying careful attention to the road as she navigated the mountain pass in the Subaru.

"I did," Diana said. "It was a nice workout and the view was quite pleasant. Thank you for taking me, Akko."

"Anytime," Akko said. She looked down at the clock in the Subaru and saw it was just after 5:00. Thoughts began brewing in Akko's mind. "Hey, you want to go get something to eat?"

"What did you have in mind?"

Akko looked up for a moment at the ceiling before the lightbulb went off in her head. "I know, how about we go to Oishii Noodle House?!"

"Oishii Noodle House?"

"It's an Asian noodle place in town here. It serves up ramen, lo mein, all the basic Asian noodle and rice dishes. I had totally forgot it was here because I'm the only one in the band who really eats any Asian food. You wanna go?"

"I wouldn't be opposed. Lead the way, Akko."

Akko smiled gleefully and continued to drive the Subaru back into the heart of Fort Collins. The streets were a little more busy than they were when they arrived in the city, for it was starting to turn to move in season for the students at nearby Colorado State University. Some students had been there all summer, but the students who had off campus housing in Fort Collins were moving back into their apartments or into new residences, clogging up the street with moving trucks and minivans full of belongings. Akko herself couldn't help but smile at the sight. It brought her back to the day she first arrived at Luna Nova and moved in, though she didn't have the help of her parents and moved herself in completely. She was a little jealous that all these students had some help, but only held onto the animosity for a brief time. One of the students unloading herself wore a studded black vest with a female power symbol on the back along with patches for some bands that Akko recognized as Propaghandi, The Interrupters, and Strike Anywhere. The sight made Akko smile.

The two women eventually made their way to a brown strip mall with several outlets on its side. Akko pulled up in front of a lit sign red sign for the restaurant and disembarked the Subaru with Diana. Once inside and sat at a table Akko sat across from Diana and looked over the menu. "So have you ever tried any of these foods before?"

"I can't say I have," Diana said.

"What?!" Akko exclaimed. "In all your travels you've never had some lo-mein or ramen? What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Diana scoffed.

Akko felt her heart sink a little and made a quick move to recover it. "Sorry, I just find it kinda odd that you've never had any Asian food before."

"I never had the opportunity," Diana said. "I've never traveled to that part of the world before and thus never had a chance to enjoy the local cuisines."

"Well I gotta schedule us a Japanese tour then. You can't go your whole life without seeing my neck of the woods."

"That sounds like it would be absolutely delightful."

Akko noticed Diana smile and blushed a little, not fully understanding why she was blushing but just letting it happen before she turned back to her menu. "So I take it you don't know what you want?"

"Not quite," Diana said as she glanced over the menu. "Some of the options appeal to me but I don't know what exactly I should be looking for." She set her menu down for Akko to examine. "What do you think I should try?"

"Go for the shio ramen," Akko said. "It's a nice, basic ramen that has a lot of flavor. I think you'll really like it."

"I'll take your advice then." A waiter came over and took their orders for ramen and some steamed shumai before taking away their menus. Akko and Diana were left to themselves, one of only two pairs of people sitting in the restaurant. Silence then descended over the pair. It made Akko uncomfortable.

"So the leads are almost done," Akko said, trying her hardest to stir up some conversation and not understanding why. The waiter came back and filled two teacups with some hot tea for them to drink. Akko took hers and cupped it with both hands before taking a sip. "That means the vocals are coming up."

"Which is something I am looking forward to," Diana said as she sipped on her tea. "It will be nice to actually do something rather than just sit around all day watching things happen."

"Ha, I was thinking the same thing! And I play guitar so you think I'd never be bored," Akko said sheepishly. "But I really like singing. It's my favorite part of being in a band actually."

"Is that so?" Diana asked.

"Yeah, I like it a lot more than playing guitar honestly," Akko said. "I'm really not that good of a guitarist. I just know enough to write songs."

"You seem plenty competent at it by my estimation," Diana said.

Akko blushed at Diana's comment. It was pleasant to hear that someone believed in her talent when she didn't really believe it in herself sometimes. "I really just wanted to be like Shiny Chariot," Akko said. "She's my idol musically. Everything I do is because of her."

"I don't believe you've ever told me this," Diana said, looking Akko directly in the eyes with her hand in her chin. Akko felt her heart flutter again. Diana's gaze was captivating no matter what she tried to do. It seemed she was less and less able to avert it now than she ever was before.

"Oh well it's just me being a fangirl is all. You probably don't want to hear me go on about all that stuff," Akko said bashfully, not really wanting to continue discussing the matter if it meant boring Diana like she thought it would. "I don't really think it's that special."

"I beg to differ," Diana said. Akko raised her eyebrows at Diana. "It is always a pleasure for me to hear where an artist gets their influences from." Their order for steamed shumai came and was placed between the two of them. Akko briefly taught Diana how to handle the chopsticks, which like skateboarding Diana was able to do with ease. The two split the order of six shumai between them. "If I must say, Akko, this tastes absolutely delicious."

"Really?! That's awesome," Akko said excitedly as she set her chopsticks down. "Then you're going to love the ramen here. It's some of the best I've ever had, in Japan or not in Japan. It's good by any standard."

"That's quite the compliment to pay this place," Diana said. The waiter came and took the shumai plate away after the small dumplings were moved onto the small serving plates they were presented with. "So where were we...oh that's right. You were going to tell me about Shiny Chariot."

"Oh yeah, right," Akko said, blushing as she swallowed down one of her shumai dumplings. "So Shiny Chariot is a huge influence of mine. Actually influence doesn't even begin to describe it. She's literally my idol and I have to thank her for my whole desire of being a traveling musician in the first place."

"Is that so?" Diana asked as she ate the last of her shumai. "Well do tell me more. I'm all ears."

Akko smiled and sat up in her seat. "My dad first introduced me to Shiny Chariot when he came back from a business trip in America. He used to always buy me little souvenirs, like those tapes that taught me English, back from the States. And one day he brought me back a Shiny Chariot CD. I was just starting to learn English and he thought it might help me learn the language better. Not to mention Shiny Chariot was huge in America at the time so it was a nice little slice of culture for him to bring back with him." Akko reached in and took a sip of water. "Please stop me if I ever start boring you with this stuff."

"I assure you that you're in no way boring me at all, Akko," Diana said kindly. "Now please continue. I'm very curious in all this."

Akko blushed once more and continued on with her story. "The Shiny Chariot album he got me was her album Make Yourself, and it immediately it left a huge impression upon me. It was such a unique sound for me having come from a world where everything was all teen idols and children's songs. I swear the first time I heard Chariot hit a chord on her guitar it literally sent chills up my spine because it was just so different from anything I had heard before." She paused and looked away from Diana for a moment before returning her gaze, checking to make sure that Diana wasn't bored by any of it. "When I first heard the song 'Pardon Me' I nearly exploded. It was so different from anything I had ever heard before but it sounded just so perfect. The powerful chords, the turntable scratching, the high flying chorus, I just loved every single bit of it. It really just set me on fire and left me so inspired, ironic for a song that's supposed to be about spontaneous combustion."

"I would have never guessed," Diana said.

"Yeah it's a weird story thinking about how I got from being so into Shiny Chariot to playing stuff like I play now," Akko said with a chuckle. "But I swear it all makes…" She paused again. "Say, Diana, have you ever listened to Shiny Chariot before?"

She had caught Diana right in the middle of devouring her last piece of shumai when she made that statement. She saw Diana look at her with wide eyes and momentarily stop chewing on her food, a most interesting reaction considering the manners in which Diana typically ate her food with. Akko wondered for a second if she was going to spit it out onto the plate and that Diana had eaten a bad piece of food. Surely she hadn't caught her off guard with her question, right? There's no way that she possibly could have.

Thankfully for her Diana swallowed her shumai and then looked up at her. "I apologize, but you caught me mid chew with that question," Diana said sheepishly. Akko raised her eyebrow. She had never heard Diana speak this way. "But I've never listened to Shiny Chariot before. To be honest I've only even heard of her in passing. I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to listen to her even if I had a chance."

"Did your aunt not allow you to listen to her?" Akko asked.

"I never asked but I don't believe she would have," Diana explained. "My aunt never really let me listen to anything beyond opera and symphony music. It's a real shame because thinking about it I completely missed out on the kind of music that I'm playing now. That's frankly why it was such a difficult adjustment for me to get used to singing punk rock. I never was allowed to listen to it even privately."

"That really sucks," Akko said. "You know, your aunt sounds like a real jerk if I'm honest, Diana. Not to insult your family or anything, but she sounds like a really mean person."

"I don't blame you for thinking that," Diana replied. Akko raised her eyebrow again. Was Diana actually agreeing with her? "She was just doing her best to take care of me though. I don't hold it against her for doing the things she did to me. So please don't hold any kind of a grudge, Akko."

Akko looked at Diana deeply for a moment. She saw her bandmate looking down at the floor and away from her, almost embarrassed by what she had said. Akko wondered if she had hurt Diana's feelings. That wasn't anything she wanted to do. Her fears however were asauged when Diana picked her head up and looked at her with a gentle smile. That was enough to put her at a calm for a moment, if she did sense that something was still bugging Diana.

She wasn't left with much of a moment to ruminate on it before Diana's order of shio ramen and Akko's order of miso ramen arrived. "Alright, let's eat!" Akko immediately picked her bowl up to her face and went to sip on the broth, but not before catching Diana out of the corner of her eye staring at her curiously. "Everything alright, Diana?"

"You're about to just sip the broth right out of the bowl, Akko," Diana said. "Isn't that a little bit rude?"

"What?" Akko said confused. She thought about it for a moment and then realized that Diana had never eaten ramen before. "No no no it's okay! You're supposed to eat ramen like that."

"You are?" Diana said curiously.

"Yeah, you're supposed to taste the broth before you start eating the noodles and stuff," Akko said. She looked down and saw Diana's soup spoon sitting down next to her bowl and picked up on an opportunity. "If you don't want to pick up your whole bowl, just take a taste of the broth with your spoon." Akko reached down and scooped up some broth with her soup spoon to show Diana, slurping it up with a loud audible slurp that the whole restaurant could hear. She saw Diana's cheeks grow rosy and the look on her place grow shocked. "Oh, you're supposed to slurp loudly when you're eating ramen. Especially when you're eating the noodles." Akko reached down and grabbed some noodles in her mouth before slurping them up loudly from the bowl, then grabbing some more to mix with some broth in her soup spoon before slurping up some more. Diana looked at her with complete shock. "Come on, try some!"

"Akko, am I really…"

"Yes, you are!" Akko said with a smile. "Come on, get into it! You'll really like it if you try."

Akko watched as Diana nervously took a spoonful of broth and some noodles before bringing it up to her face. Akko nodded at her happily to spur her on, watching as Diana in typical Diana fashion slurped the ramen and the broth up like a pro, no small feat for someone enjoying the cuisine for the first time. She watched as Diana took her hands away from the utensils and set them down "This is delicious, Akko."

Akko felt a smile rise across her cheeks and her eyebrows go to the top of her head. "You really think so?"

"I do," Diana said. She watched Diana go for a piece of pork belly and slurp it up along with the noodles. "This is truly one of the most pleasurable dishes I have had in quite some time."

"Yatta!" Akko cheered with glee. Diana looked at her confused. "That's Japanese for 'hell yeah' or something."

"Well then, let's eat," Diana said with a smile. Akko smiled back at her and began to devour her ramen voraciously. She couldn't help but keep her eyes on Diana as she ate her food, finding it oddly cute the way that the blonde was eating the ramen before her and infinitely glad she had outwardly impressed her bandmate in some way.

* * *

Later Akko and Diana returned to the studio where the rest of the band had been relaxing. Akko quickly got back into listening over the tracks with Ursula. Eventually Diana and Amanda joined the two of them as they sat in the studio listening over tracks to make any final arrangements before the vocals were laid down.

At the moment they were listening to one song, a song which Akko had deemed "one of the most epic and longest" songs they had written to date, trying to figure out what the song needed to really push it over the top. Akko was proud of what the song had turned out so far, but she still felt that something was missing.

"I feel like in this part," Akko said as she held her guitar, strumming it over some chords. "That were almost building toward something but nothing comes."

"You mean it sounds like a lead break?" Amanda said as she stood against the mixing console listening to the sound. Akko played the chords again and Amanda listened closely, Diana listening close behind. "Yeah, it does kinda sound like its a lead break to nothing. What do you think, Princess?"

"It is rather anticlimactic," Diana said as she put her hand on the mixing console. "I agree something of some kind should come after it before we go into the bridge following."

"Like a shredding section?" Akko said, toying with some lead ideas on her guitar. Diana watched and listened closely. These parts of the songs were never her specialty to craft as she was not an instrumentalist, but something about the way that Akko picked at the notes with her alternate picking technique and made her raise her eyebrows. She thought about it more and more as Akko picked away at some notes on the fretboard and then came to a realization she never thought she would say.

"Akko, you should play a guitar solo there."

Amanda and Akko looked up at her with raised eyebrows, Akko's eyes equally wide as she looked up at the blonde singer curiously. "Me?! I should play a solo? But that's Amanda's job."

"But you just played something there that would make a perfect solo for the song," Diana pointed out. "I think you should definitely give it a try."

"Yeah but I don't play lead," Akko said. "I'm really not good at playing things like solos. That was me just noodling around."

"Play what you were playing again," Amanda said. Diana watched Akko nod her head and go back to playing with the track, picking furiously at a few notes and creating a shrill tremolo sound. "Yeah yeah that works. That really works there." She paused. "Princess is right. You should be playing a guitar solo in the middle of that song. It would sound sick."

"But I don't know a lot of lead beyond what I just played there," Akko said sheepishly. "I was just being silly and I don't think…"

"I'm' going to side with your bandmates, Akko," Ursula said. "The song needs a guitar solo and what you were playing sounds like a great basis for it. I know you might not be confident in your soloing capabilities, but it would be interesting to hear a solo other than Amanda's work coming in on this song. It's bold enough to make it worth the chance."

"You really think so, Ursula-Sensei?" Akko said.

"I know so," Ursula replied. "And your bandmates know so too. Right ladies?"

"I'm certain it's what the song needs," Diana stated assuredly. "You second that, Amanda?"

"Loud and clear, Princess," Amanda said with a smirk. "I say go for it, Akko."

Diana watched Akko look down at her guitar before grabbing the neck of the Les Paul tightly. In a moment the meekness was gone and replaced by confidence, the same confidence that Akko had shown when they first met at Foreign Performance and when she first appeared in Amanda's basement practice space was readily apparent to her. Now she was clearly energized and even inspired by the challenge brought before her, and she was more than happy to take it on.

"I'm down," Akko said with a smirk. "Let's make a guitar solo."

"Let me get my guitar and we'll come up with ideas," Amanda said. Akko nodded and let the redhead leave the room, leaving Diana standing by Akko's side while Ursula sat in her office chair. For a moment Akko and her's gazes were caught up in each other's again, Diana breaking away with a blush on her face.

For the next hour or so Diana watched Akko and Amanda slave over what the guitar solo would be like, Amanda breaking out all the fretboard trickery and scales she could possibly think of to teach Akko some things to make the solo sound better. Diana briefly wondered if she had pushed Akko too much when asking her to play the solo, but those concerns were quickly brushed aside when she saw just how fervently Akko pushed herself and tried to learn what she could technique wise to improve the solo. Diana was greatly impressed with the way Akko took to the lessons. She didn't always get things right on the first try, on the contrary she seemed to get things wrong more often than not on the first try, but she always seemed to pick up on them after a few more shots at it. It was this fervent attitude to do the best she possibly could that always impressed Diana. Even if Akko couldn't be half the lead player that Amanda was she at least was going to try hardest to be close, and that was worth all the effort she was putting into the solo no matter what was said.

After the solo was done Akko ran her amplifier back through the mixing console and held her guitar in her lap. Diana watched as Akko played through the solo into the mixing console, hitting each note on her fretboard with aggression, picking the strings so hard Diana wondered if they would stay in tune. Akko completed the solo in less than thirty seconds, and it was stopped by turning the volume down on her guitar all the way. The three women then looked at Ursula, who listened back to the solo twice.

"That's it," Ursula said. "That's what the song needed." She clicked back to the beginning and listened to the song from the top. Diana listened closely as the riffs came together, ended in the solo, and then ended the song before pausing it. "It needs a few extra bits here and there to finish out the arrangement, but the song is done otherwise as far as I'm concerned." She turned back in her office chair to face them. "That is, unless you don't feel that way."

"I think with a few more extras it would be complete," Diana said.

"Second that," Amanda said. "It's on you though, Akko. You wrote this thing."

Diana watched Akko pause and strum away quietly at the strings of her guitar. The Japanese woman had a contemplative look on her face, a reflective pose that was the mark of an artist deep in thought. And in traditional Akko fashion she didn't think about it very long. Diana knew this was a sign that her bandmate was certain of the direction that she had taken with the song.

"I'll come up with a few more bits to smooth out the song but I agree, its done," Akko said with a smile. "And it sounds like the most epic song we've ever written." And then Diana was caught by surprise by a statement from Akko. "Thanks for pushing me, Diana. I really appreciate it."

At that moment Diana felt her own heart flutter and rise up within her chest. "You're welcome, Akko." And for that all she could do was smile.

* * *

Eventually the last of the leads and arrangements were made for the album and they could move onto a part that Diana found more relevant and pressing; the vocals. As she had told Akko before Diana greatly welcomed the change, but she was surprised first that Akko and Amanda would be recording vocals before her. This to her did not make any sense, but Ursula explained the process to her in a more detailed manner.

"We do it this way because all three of you have pretty distinct voices," Ursula explained as she set up a vocal mic in the booth for Amanda to sing into. "Amanda functions as kind of a volume addition, she has the most indistinct voice amongst three of you. No offense, Amanda."

"None taken," Amanda said as she stood against the wall watching Ursula set up the microphone.

"Akko and you on the other hand have more unique voices, Diana. Akko doesn't just back up your parts, she adds her own voice underneath yours and gives it some extra flavor. Not to consider she often sings a little bit behind you in terms of timing and adds a little bit of extra holding and nuance to her voice, almost to the point of oversinging things sometimes, that her vocals are best recorded before you enter the booth and lay down yours."

"You really think so?" Diana questioned.

"I've been in this business for twenty years, Diana. I think I know thing or two about recording vocals," Ursula said with a smile, as if to both inform and to politely tell the blonde to 'fuck off'. Diana got the message quickly and decided to back off her questioning. Meanwhile Ursula continued to make adjustments as Amanda stepped up against the mic. The whole process, between height adjustments and testing out the microphone from the console, took close to three hours. Once again Diana was both impressed and made incredibly weary by just how precise everything was in done in the studio.

In due time the equipment was set up and Amanda went into the booth to record her vocals. "What song are we starting on first, Akko?" Diana asked as she stood behind the mixing console.

"Um…," Akko said as she looked over the song sheet for the tracks that they had selected to record. "Hmm…how about 'Career Suicide' as the first one?"

"A nice quick one to start," Diana said. "Good choice I suppose."

"Fine by me," Ursula said, pulling up the file on the Macbook Pro connected to her mixing console and pushing a button on the console for the vocal booth intercom. "You know your lines, Amanda?"

"Like the back of my hand," Amanda replied.

"Alright this is 'Career Suicide', Amanda's vocals, take one," Ursula said. With that she clicked her mouse on the track so Amanda could hear it and perform her part.

WILL YOU JUMP WITH ME THROUGH THE FIRE?!

The take was so loud that Diana ended up jumping backwards and nearly falling onto the sofa that was behind her. Akko couldn't help but get a laugh in at the blonde singer and Ursula couldn't help but chuckle as well. "My goodness is that what she sounds like on her own?!"

"What you don't hear how loud I am when we practice, Princess?" Amanda said from inside the booth.

"I always wear sound protection and you're always singing underneath Akko and I so no, I haven't heard you like this," Diana said as she dusted herself off from falling on the floor. She watched as Akko, Ursula, and the newly arriving Lotte and Sucy took their turns to laugh at her expense. Diana wasn't so much angry at the gestures but she was deeply embarrassed. Who was she to fall on her ass over something as innocuous as a scream in a punk rock song?

"Alright, laughing aside," Ursula said as she came down from her bout of laughter. "Amanda you could hold onto the words "through" and "fire" longer than you did. Put some emphasis on those and we should be set. Okay?"

"Roger that," Amanda said, straightening out the headphones on her head.

"Okay so 'Career Suicide' Amanda's vocals take one." Ursula played the track again and Amanda went to go at her parts again.

WILL YOU JUMP WITH ME THROUGH THE FIRE?!

Once again Diana couldn't help but jump backwards and this time actually fall onto the sofa. Now the laughter went way beyond chuckles and into full on boisterousness, no one holding back as Diana felt herself sinking into the cushion. She desperately wanted to slip fully into the seat below her, wanting to do everything in her power to get out of sight of her bandmates with every fiber of her being. Unfortunately couch cushions didn't function as black holes and she was left sitting there for her bandmates to laugh at her after her embarrassing episode.

* * *

Falling on her rear end aside Amanda's vocals for 'Career Suicide' were completed in two hours with not many takes, given how few lines the song had for her to sing on. Diana watched as Amanda honed in her screams to just the right point between adding sheer volume and being musical. Diana grew to appreciate Amanda's vocals more through the process of recording what amounted to four lines of vocals. Sure she didn't sound as special as Akko but Amanda's additions were something that Diana came to respect in a way that she never thought possible given Amanda's incessant taunting of her.

After she was done it was time to readjust the vocal mic and let Akko go record her parts. These parts were far more pleasurable to Diana on the ears. She welcomed the sound of Akko's passionate, unobstructed voice, a voice that conveyed everything from youthful exuberance to seriousness to pain all in one single timbre. And this was maintained even after Akko had scarfed down a turkey sandwich with a glass of milk, things that Diana believed would surely wreck her vocal performance for at least a few hours, but surprisingly they did nothing of the sort. Akko just kept on delivering vocals no matter what she did. And all of it sounded nothing short of lovely to Diana's ears.

"I think I over sang that last take there, Sensei," Akko said through the intercom. "I don't know, what do you think?"

"You definitely over sang it," Ursula said after pushing the button on her mixing console. "I think everything else was there as far as the pitch, but you over sang the two "runs" and thinking about it now you over sang the word "fire" in the previous line we recorded before."

"Oh come on, Sensei," Akko groaned. "We're really going to go back and do all these takes again?"

"You want to make the song as perfect as it possibly can be or what?" Ursula said through the intercom. "Now come on, let's do this from the top."

"Alright, alright," Akko grumbled. "Hit me."

"'Career Suicide', Akko's vocals, take ten," Ursula said. With that she started the track and Diana watched her peer go to work.

 **Will you jump with me through the fire?**

 **Evil hosts pad their savings spent on younger faces**

 **So why don't you just say no?**

 **As my fake heart concedes your fake glove…"**

At that moment both Ursula and Akko began laughing boisterously and nearly fell over on herself in the vocal booth. Diana looked on mildly confused. Were they really having fun because they made a mistake? Were they not slogging things out trying to make the song as best as possible and now they were being silly? Just what was all this?

"Okay so now are we going to," Ursula laughed. "Are we going to take off the...take off the fake gloves and work for real on this song?"

"Sensei, the fake gloves have been off this...this whole time," Akko gasped through the intense laughter. "What you don't see them sitting on the floor next to my guitar in the studio?"

"No I thought you carried them into the vocal booth with you," Ursula chuckled. She took some more time to gasp and breathe deeply before continuing on with her task. Diana looked on mildly confused still, which Ursula quickly picked up on. "Excuse us for being so silly, Diana, but we can't help but have a little fun at each other's expense in here."

"It's perfectly fine," Diana assured. "I may not be outwardly sharing your amusement but I assure you I take no offense to what is happening before me."

"Good good," Ursula said, wiping some tears of laughter out from under her eyes. "Okay so, where were we?"

"I think we were at the 'fake heart…' line, right?" Akko said.

"Yeah, the line about fake gloves," Ursula chuckled. Akko and here started laughing again and Diana couldn't help but sigh. "Alright, let's do it from the top."

Diana watched as Ursula restarted the song and Akko began her take again. Now that the laughing had subsided Diana could once again go back to appreciating just how beautiful Akko's voice was, at least in her mind. Even in these truncated, short, rapid bursts that weren't as musical as they were on the Mute Print and Ruiner albums, it was still a sound to behold for her.

Much to Diana's surprise once the silliness quieted down Akko finished her parts in a little over an hour, unlike the countless hours they spent tracking the guitar parts. After Ursula moved the clips into place and Akko came out to listen to them, they briefly deliberated about how they sounded before making the decision to not go back into the booth.

"Alright Diana," Ursula said, turning around in her chair. "You're up."

Diana felt her heart nearly jump. It was really her turn already?

"I know you got this," Akko said. "Come on, go in there and show Ursula sensei what you're made of."

Diana breathed in a little sharply and felt her lips curl a bit at Akko's declaration. She couldn't thank Akko enough for offering encouragement. She was eager to finally flex her talents for Ursula to see.

Ursula spent another hour and a half adjusting the vocal mic for Diana's height and head position before setting it up and getting Diana situated. Now standing alone in the vocal booth with the headphones in front of the vocal mic, warming up her voice briefly before standing in, looking over the lyrics one more time, and readying herself to sing.

"Alright here's 'Career Suicide' lead vocals take one," Ursula said. "Ready, Diana?"

"I'm ready," Diana said, inhaling deeply and exhaling. One second later the sound of a clean guitar being finger picked before a distorted series of chords ripped through the track and broke into a rapid, melodic section. After a brief lead played by both Akko and Amanda rang out, Diana began her part.

 _Run, motherfucker, run!_  
 _ **Will you jump with me through the fire?**  
In these dark places_  
 ** _evil hosts pad their savings, spent on younger faces._**

 _It kills me to act surprised,_  
 _ **so why don't you just say no?**_  
 _If you're mad at the world, no matter,_  
 _ **as my fake heart concedes to your fake love.**_

The lead picked back up before Diana again jumped back into the song.

 _Jump, motherfucker, jump!_  
 _ **Will you burn with me on the pyre?**_  
 _When the fires have died, you gotta lengthen your stride._  
 _ **You better run, motherfucker, run!**_

 _It kills me to act surprised,_  
 ** _so why don't you just say no?_**  
 _If you're mad at the world, no matter,_  
 _ **as my fake heart concedes to your fake love.**_

The lead came up one last time to finish out the song and Ursula cut the track off. Diana stood in the booth breathing lightly, trying to come down from the zone she had put herself in to sing the part. She had her own thoughts on the matter after she had finished it up. "You know, I think I could do that one better."

"Huh what?" Ursula said from the other side of the booth, a shocked tone coming from her voice. "You think you could do better?"

"I feel like I lost it on the second verse a bit, came in a bit behind and hung onto a few words a bit too long. I oversang it a little," Diana explained. She straightened her headphones out in the booth. "I really think I could do better."

"So you want to do it again, just to be clear?" Ursula repeated.

"That's correct," Diana said. "Now could you please play the track again so we can get on with this, Ursula?"

"Well okay. 'Career Suicide' lead vocals, take two." With that Ursula played the track, Diana breathed in again, and let the words come to her.


	17. Akko 3, Diana 0

**AN: Finally an update, and this one was relatively quick too. Lately chapters take a few days to come to me but once I get the time to just sit down and write they kind of just slide out onto the page (well really the Google document XD). I'm quite happy with this one and I hope all of you enjoy it too.  
**

 **Two songs by A Wilhelm Scream appear in this chapter: "Pardon Me, Thanks a Lot" and "Jaws 3, People 0".**

To reiterate the vocal stylings of the story:  
 _Any lyrics in Italics are sung by Diana._  
 **Any lyrics in bold are sung by Akko.  
** Any lyrics underlined are sung by Amanda.   
_**Any combination signifies a harmony.**_

 **Feel free to critique as always and thanks for your support!**

 **Kind Regards,**

 **Symbiotic**

* * *

"So that's all I have to do," Diana said as she stood with her skateboard underneath her feet.

"That's all you gotta do, Princess," Amanda said. The redhead stood with her board in her arm, watching Diana closely as the blonde went about performing her trick.

Diana leaned back on her heels as she readied herself to perform the trick. Getting down into a slight crouch while in her lean, she jumped up and kicked the board out from under her, letting it flip over in the air underneath her before catching it with her left heal and bringing it back down upon the ground. Once again, Diana had taken a trick that she had learned in about ten minutes and had nailed it on her first try, this time quickly picking up on how to heelflip her skateboard within the span of only a few minutes.

"I'm so jealous," Amanda said with a shake of her head. She kicked off her board and did a quick pop shove it before turning back to Diana. "No one should be this good at skating on their first try."

"I've always been a bit of a quick learner," Diana said as she put her board back under her feet. "Sure this has a learning curve but I don't see at as any harder to learn than anything else."

"Well color me impressed, Princess."

It was an early afternoon day in Colorado Springs. Diana and Amanda were skating in Ursula's driveway, trying new skateboarding tricks while the sun was still high in the sky. Amanda had been teaching Diana how to heel flip and pop shove it. It was a welcome reprieve from the grind of the studio. Lotte and Sucy were still inside while Akko finished up her vocals for one of the songs. Diana had intended on staying in the studio for the duration of the recording, but Amanda suggested they go out to skate and Akko signed off on it, not that Diana needed Akko's permission. Still, she was glad that her bandmate had given her permission to do so.

"So have you made your move on Akko yet?" Amanda said as she kicked her board up with her feet.

Diana froze in her tracks and felt the blood rush to her face. "For the last time I am telling you that I'm…"

"Look I know it, everyone in the band knows it, you're going to make a move on Akko at some point," Amanda said. "It's a done deal."

"It's far from a done deal, Amanda," Diana stated firmly. "In fact no such deal is even on the table. I'm not going to make any kind of advances on Akko whatsoever."

"Suit yourself," Amanda said as she kicked off on her board and did a pop shove it. "But I gotta be honest...you don't know what you're missing."

Diana raised her eyebrow curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Amanda said. "But I know that Akko would make a great partner if you were interested."

Diana raised her eyebrow and held her skateboard under her foot, the board pointing skyward as she held her foot on one of the tail's. "What do you mean?"

"Look, Diana. Akko's would make a great girlfriend. She's loyal, almost to a fault. She never gives up on anybody. She's fiercely passionate about what she does. She's pretty good looking. I mean she's everything you want in a romantic partner."

"Why do you incessantly bring up the idea that I want to be in a relationship with Akko?" Diana asked.

"Because," Amanda said as she kicked her skateboard up. "All the time you two spend together, how you compliment each other, how you let Akko stare at your rack without flipping out." Amanda shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, I just have this hunch that you want it, and that maybe she wants it too."

Diana stood there and thought about what Amanda was saying for a moment. All that the redhead was saying was true. And Diana hated to admit it but perhaps she recognized it and felt that way Akko. She couldn't believe she was saying it and wasn't sure she believed it, but she was falling for the Japanese woman. She was recognizing all those innate qualities that Akko had and was internalizing them as her own feelings. She liked those qualities about Akko. Maybe even...maybe even…

No. She would never let her mind wander there. But as much as she was trying to stop it her mind was wandering closer and closer to that nether region that she wasn't sure she was willing to approach. Something was wrong, or was something wrong? None of this made sense to Diana. She wasn't above falling in love, but had the scars of the incident in Rome really healed so much that she was actually ready to fall back in love again? Diana wasn't sure, but perhaps part of her was telling her otherwise.

She wasn't given much more time to ruminate on the matter when Lotte and Sucy emerged from the studio. "Diana, you're up," Sucy called out.

"Already?" Diana said, kicking up her skateboard and grabbing it with her hands. "Akko's already done?"

"She finished her vocals pretty quickly for this track," Lotte explained. She waved her hand over her shoulder. "Come on, it's time for you to get into the booth."

Diana followed the puce haired woman and the bespectacled Finn into the studio and walked down into the control room. There Akko was stepping out of the vocal booth while Ursula was bringing in the vocal mic that she had set up for Diana and taking a brief time to configure it. "You finished already?" Diana said to Akko as she stepped out.

"Yeah I killed it in there according to Ursula-Sensei," Akko said with a smile. "Now it's your turn. Are you ready?"

"Just let me warm up my voice and I'll certainly be ready," Diana said. Akko smiled and let Diana walk into the booth, where Ursula was just finished up making adjustments. While she was waiting for the blue haired woman to finish up setting up the microphone before Diana put the headphones on and stepped up to the microphone. "So what song are we doing now?"

"You forgot?" Akko gloomed.

Diana sensed how Akko was disappointed and desperately dug back into her memory to see if she could recall what song they were doing. "Wait a second," she began. She thought about it more. "It was…" She snapped her fingers to try to jostle her memory. "It was 'Pardon me, Thanks a Lot' right?"

From the other side of the booth she could practically sense Akko smiling at the fact Diana had gotten the song right. Diana sighed in relief. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint Akko over something so trivial.

There she was again, caring about Akko over utterly small issues. Why in the world she care so much about what the Japanese girl thought so much? None of this was making sense to her, and she didn't like it in the least.

"You ready for this, Diana?" Ursula from the other side of the booth.

"About as ready as I'll ever be," Diana said. "I never in a million years thought I'd ever be singing an angry political song like this one." She could hear Akko and Ursula both start to laugh at her from the other side of the booth. "Glad I know I can make you two have a little bit of fun at my expense."

"Oh Diana don't worry about it," Ursula said. "We're just having a little chuckle is all." She waited for Ursula to come down from her fit of laughter and then straightened her shoulders as she readied herself to sing the song. "In all seriousness though are you ready to do this?"

"Again, I'm ready as I'll ever be," Diana replied. "Lets get on on with it."

"Okay then, 'Pardon Me, Thanks a Lot' lead vocals, take one," Ursula said.

With that Ursula started the track and a repetitive punk rock riff began to fill Diana's ears. It was one of the simpler riffs on the album, but it had a certain melody that Diana enjoyed hearing and made her bob her head lightly. Once she heard her point of entry into the song she quickly looked down at the lyrics and began her part.

 _Blood pressure is headed south_  
 ** _servant becomes the master now._**  
 _The greediest sons of a bitch alive_  
 _they came to bleed our city dry._  
 _Your ashes are dust to us_  
 ** _born to money and fucked it up._**  
 _The greediest sons of a bitch alive_  
 _won't buy us all!_

 ** _Backpedaling and preaching_**  
 ** _like you're putting out a fire,_**  
 ** _you practice your pleasantries_**  
 ** _while you're draped over the wire:_**  
 _Pardon me, well thanks a lot._  
 **(Thanks a lot!)**

The main riff of the song came back into play and made Diana bob her head once more. It was only for a brief moment before the main section of the song came back and she was forced to focus on her part once more.

 _We were coming back to life_  
 _ **but Brutus couldn't resist the knife.**_  
 _ **The greediest sons of a bitch alive**_  
 _ **shame on us all.**_

 _ **But soon we will expose you  
for your ignorance and lust.  
We'll keep on talking dirty  
while we drag you through the mud.  
We'll vilify your slanderings  
while you're under the gun!**_

 ** _A most hideous thing, denial._**  
 **Pardon me,** _thanks a lot!_  
(Thanks a lot.)

A repetitive lead by Amanda began and went into finishing out the song. The lead repeated over several bars and made Diana bob her head a bit more. Before she knew it the song was finished and everything was done. Ursula cut the track off and left Diana standing quietly in the booth, alone to ruminate on how she did on the take. "That was awesome, Diana," Ursula said happily.

"I could've done better," Diana stated.

"Huh what?! But how?"

"I think at the second verse I might have hurried the whole 'Brutus couldn't resist the knife line'," she replied. "I'm not sure, I would have to hear it back, but I wouldn't feel comfortable taking a chance on that particular take was the one that would end up on the album in the final form. I think I could do better." Diana thought about it a bit more. "You know, lets take it from the top and do it over again."

"From the top?" Akko said from the other side of the vocal booth, a level of shock coming into her voice. "You want to do it all the way from there?"

"I think so," Diana said. "No sense in using just the parts that were done fine. Let's try to get the whole thing right."

"Okay then," Ursula replied, a level of shock still radiating off of her voice. "'Pardon Me, Thanks a Lot' lead vocals, take two."

* * *

The rest of the day was spent recording Diana's vocals for 'Pardon Me, Thanks a Lot' before breaking starting recording vocals for another song. Amanda did her vocals pretty quickly for the track given that she had few parts, but Akko had more parts in it to record and thus was in the studio for far longer.

"Akko, stop oversinging it," Ursula demanded through the intercom. "This is a simple line and you're trying to be like Christina Aguilera over her."

"I'm not that bad, am I?" Akko said. Ursula played back the take for her to listen to and Akko grimaced. "Jeez, I really do suck."

"You're not on the ball with this one the way you were with 'Pardon Me…'. I don't know what's going on but straighten it out or we're going to be here all night."

"Yeah yeah," Akko replied. "Bring it."

Ursula then signaled another take and Akko went about her singing. Diana listened closely as Akko performed her part.

 **WIDE OPEN INVITING THE NEXT POP ROCK STAR ASSHOLE!**

"Alright, you're almost there," Ursula said cutting off the track. "Much better than the last time around. But you kind of rushed the end there. Really emphasize the syllables in 'asshole' and hold the second one out. Also try to really staccato up the words. Make them a bit choppy ."

"So more like 'pop-rock-star-ass-hole'?" Akko recited through the microphone

"Break it up like that and we're golden, alright?" Ursula said. Akko nodded from inside the booth and Ursula went back to playing the take. This time Akko nailed it down perfectly, doing just what Ursula said for the lines and following her instructions down to the last iota.

Diana was impressed as she listened closely. Akko sure wasn't the most competent instrumentalist or the most competent backing vocalist for that matter, but she always tried her best to get things right and be as perfect as she possibly could. It was this constant striving that Diana found so admirable even it was incredibly exhausting. Akko was just as much of a perfectionist as Diana was, and Diana never in so long would've thought she'd ever meet someone who was just as hard on themselves about getting things right as Akko was.

And it didn't help matters that Akko's voice, even in these rapid truncated bursts that weren't like the more drawn on lines of the Mute Print and Ruiner albums, were some of the most pleasant she had ever heard, even when Akko was singing about something incredibly obscene.

"I just don't get it," Diana said as she stood next to Ursula while Akko did another take. "How did she do it?"

"How does she do what?" Ursula questioned as she listened back before messaging Akko from inside the booth to do another line again. "You mean be such a perfectionist or her voice?"

"Both," Diana said. She watched Akko again do her part from the booth and again screw up but once again pick herself back up and go to try again. Ursula signaled for her and she started again. "How does she do it?"

"Akko just loves every second of what she does," Ursula said. "It's hard to explain beyond that. But of any artist who I've ever worked with Akko just...Akko just puts more of her heart and soul than anyone I've ever worked with."

"Anyone huh?" Diana looked back and listened to Akko recite her line into the microphone. It wasn't perfect, and she again tried once more. She felt her heart flutter in her chest as she stared at the Japanese woman. She couldn't believe that she was feeling this way. "I guess I believe it."

"Have you ever really seen someone work so hard at what they do to get the desired result?"

"I honestly don't think so." She watched Akko again go through her lines and this time get them halfway right. Ursula agreed they would keep the part that she did well and then start from the spot where she had stumbled. Akko again went back at it, continuing on like a prize fighter who had been knocked to the ground again and got right back to sing her part. Diana couldn't help but watch in admiration yet again. And she couldn't help but hear her heart flutter at the way Akko's voice penetrated itself through each line of the song.

Eventually the track was finished and Akko stepped out of the vocal booth to listen to her whole performance. She stood close to Diana and made the blonde feel heat come up through her body as they stood close. Diana still couldn't pinpoint the source of these sensations, but she was getting more and more of an idea as she thought about it further and as her heart seemed to fall further into a sea of feelings that she never foresaw.

"Perfect," Akko said. "What do you think, Diana?"

"What do I think?" Diana said, confused and caught off guard by the question. She asked Ursula to play the track again and she listened closely to Akko's parts. " Great work, Akko. It sounds stellar."

"Thanks," Akko said, giving her trademark grin after finishing up. "Now it's your turn."

Diana went into the booth and blew through the vocals for "5 to 9" in a relatively brisk manner, finishing up the recording after only ten takes on individual parts of the song. By the end the song sounded tight, crisp, and in Diana's ears the right mix between aggressive and catchy. Diana didn't even mind singing the lines fifteen year old dick ornaments. To her it was all just part of the game that Akko was playing with her music, a game Diana was more than happy to oblige in playing because it was growing increasingly fun.

"Alright, onto the next track," Akko said after they finished listening over Diana's parts. "What do you think, Ursula-Sensei?"

"Hmmm," Ursula said, scanning through the track list that Akko had provided. "How about…" She looked further and finally stopped on a specific song in the list. "How about 'Jaws 3, People 0'?"

At the mention of that particular song Diana felt all the color drain from her face and her stomach fall into the abyss. Not that song. Anything but that song. If there was any song Diana had dreaded since she joined A Seed of Sorrow, more than "The Kids Can Eat a Bag of Dicks", more than any other song that Akko had ever written, Diana dreaded the day she would have to sing "Jaws 3, People 0", and this was after assurances from Akko that the song might never make the final cut of the album, but now it clearly was.

Woozy and feeling herself lose her balance slightly, Diana turned her attention back to Akko and Ursula. "I think I'm going to lay down for a little while."

"Hmm?" Akko looked over at Diana concerned and reached out to put her hand on her forehead. "Diana, are you feeling okay?"

Diana gently slapped Akko's hand away and walked off toward the exit of the studio. She had nothing to say and just wanted to take a nap.

* * *

Diana woke up a few hours later and stirred up from her bed, where she had been laying contently without pulling the covers up. The smell of barbecue permeated the studio, Ursula having made another slow cooked dish in her crock pot. The scent and a pleasant feeling in Diana's body was more than enough to make the blonde singer stir and sit up, stretching her arms to the sky to lengthen her spine before getting up and bending sideways. Once she got the stiffness out of her body she walked over to the kitchen, where the rest of her bandmates were sitting around eating some barbecue, beans, and rice. Diana thought about joining them, but then she remembered the task that she had at hand. She sighed in defeat. Nothing was more dreadful than doing what she had to do now. Sure, it was a first world problem to have to do lead vocals on a punk rock song that she didn't want to sing, but it was still excruciating nonetheless.

Diana decided to skip having any food and went for some water. She checked her watch and looked at the time. It was way past midnight and into the next morning, which she couldn't believe. Her band mates had no business being up at this ungodly hour, and neither did she.

"Isn't this a bit late to be having dinner?" Diana said as she sat down.

"It's never too late for good barbecue, Princess," Amanda said with her mouth full. Diana winced at the rude display. "You should get some."

"I'd rather not considering the task that I have ahead of me," Diana said with a sigh.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Akko said, a concerned tone coming off of her voice. Diana picked her head up and looked at the Japanese woman. The concern that she had expressed was completely genuine.

"I'm feeling fine," Diana assured her. "I just was feeling a little dizzy is all. The nap helped me quite a bit." She got up to get herself a glass of water. "Is Ursula awake at this hour?"

"She's been doing some preliminary mixing on the tracks that we already recorded and listening back to them for ideas," Sucy explained.

"Ursula doesn't really sleep when she's working with artists," Lotte said. "Well maybe after they've been really grinding, but if she's up to it she'll stay in the studio for days on end without getting little more than a power nap."

"Well I do hope she's ready for the task at hand," Diana said. "Did you finish recording the backing vocals for the song?"

"You mean 'Jaws…'?" Akko said. "Yeah we finished them a couple of hours ago. We got the vocal booth all set up and ready to go for you."

"You're not on the rag are you, Princess?" Amanda questioned.

Diana leaned back in a manner that indicated she was taken back by the redhead's statement. "My health cycles are none of your business," she shot back, making Akko and the rest of the band raise their eyebrows. "No, I'm not 'on the rag', Amanda. I'm just fine, thank you very much."

"Alright well let's go record some vocals," Akko said with glee. Diana sighed and got up from her seat, into the studio where Ursula was sitting behind the mixing console. Diana nervously made her way into the booth, putting on the headphones waiting for her and looking over the lyrics to the song. She swallowed tightly. She couldn't believe she was about to do what she was going to do.

"You ready, Diana?" Akko asked from the other side of the booth.

Diana took another moment to swallow again. She couldn't believe she was this nervous. It was like rehearsing with A Seed of Sorrow for the first time all over again. "I'm ready. On with it, Akko."

"'Jaws 3, People 0' lead vocals take one," Ursula said from the other side of the vocal booth. And with that, the track was played and Diana went quickly into her part.

 _Let's get the fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck out of here!_  
 _Let's get the fuck, fuck...fuck..._

Ursula cut the track off quickly. "What happened in there?" the blue haired woman questioned.

"I think I just lost count of how many profanities I am supposed to let loose," Diana said as she shook herself, unable to bear the disgustingness of what she was singing. "Let's try it again."

Diana sighed and went to jump back into her part, trying her hardest to swallow her nerves down and sing what she had to sing the best she possibly could.

 _Let's get the fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck out of here!_  
 _Let's get the...fuck...flak...flech blagh agh…._

Ursula again cut off the track and this time she could hear not only the blue haired woman but the rest of their bandmates laughing boisterously from the other side of the booth. Diana gnashed her teeth and growled. "I'm glad you're all having fun at my expense as usual."

"No offense, Princess, but you sounded horrible," Amanda squeezed out through massive fits of laughter.

"You sounded like you were going to throw up," Sucy chortled from the other side of the booth. Diana growled again. She had no patience for this kind of taunting and it was adding to her already massive anxiety that she was facing from just having to sing this song.

After about another five minutes of laughter and Diana's blood rushing to both her face and her fists, they went into the third take. Again, Diana could only make it past one line before the second one came up all garbled. They went onto the fourth take, same result. Onto the fifth, six, seventh, eighth, and ninth takes. All of them were garbled and sounded absolutely horrible. This went on for several more hours before Ursula and Akko decided they had had enough.

"Alrighty then," Ursula said with an exasperated tone. "We're gonna have do an Eazy-E job on this song I guess."

"What do you mean?" Diana questioned.

"You're going to say one word at a time in the intro and Ursula will cut it off after each word," Akko said. "It's kind of a last ditch resort."

Diana sighed. She could hear Akko's disappointment from the other side of the room and couldn't help but feel disgusted with herself. No matter how hard this song was for her to sing it was never supposed to be this stressful and she had no right to sound this terrible. By this point it was getting ridiculous, and Diana wanted nothing more than it all to be over.

"Alright, Diana, are you ready?" Ursula said.

"Ready," Diana replied.

 _Let's-get-the-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-out-of-here_  
 _Let's-get-the-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck…_

Diana couldn't take it anymore. Growling, she threw the headphones off of her head and onto the floor. She walked out toward the door and ripped it open, slamming it on her way back as she walked out with clenched fists. Sucy and Amanda took their turns to snicker at the blonde as she stormed out out of the studio. Akko, Lotte, and Ursula all remained quiet, and Diana could eventually hear Akko run after her as Diana went back to her room and grabbed her skateboard and sunglasses. "Diana, wait!"

"Leave me alone, Akko," Diana shot back harshly. She walked toward the exit of the studio and left the building, again slamming the door on the way out. She didn't dare look back but she could hear Akko open the door and chase after her. Diana kicked off on her skateboard and headed out of the driveway, making her way down the street in the shoulder to the one place she really wanted to go to to blow off some steam.

* * *

"You guys are real assholes you know that," Akko said as she walked back into the the studio.

"Oh come on, Akko, we're just having a little bit of fun," Amanda said.

"No, you're being a bunch of cunts," Akko shot back harshly. "Who are you to get on Diana's case like that?"

"We're not getting on her case, Akko," Sucy replied in her typical deadpan tone.

"Really? Because that's not what it looked or sounded like with what just happened a few minutes ago." Akko sighed and slumped down on the couch in the studio, arms crossed and an angry look on her face. "Thanks a lot guys. Now we're down a singer."

"She's not going to leave the band, Akko," Sucy assured.

"How do you know?" Akko replied. "For all I know she could've gotten an Uber to Denver and flown back to Dartmouth."

"She has none of her things."

"That isn't the point!" Akko sighed and threw her head back. She actually felt herself getting emotional, tears coming to the point of breaking from her eyes and falling down. She held them back as best she could, but eventually a few escaped. She sniffled and wiped the tears falling down from her face and clenched her teeth together. This wasn't what she wanted when she came out to Fort Collins. She wanted the whole experience to be fun, to be a bonding experience, a greater bonding experience than just being in a van together for a few shows could possibly be. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt any of her bandmates feelings, especially Diana's.

She gave it a few hours and a few scoldings of her bandmates to let things calm down. Akko knew better, mostly from her conversations with Andrew, that trying to immediately fix the problem with Diana was going to do nothing toward her long term goal of rectifying the situation. While she was able to berate and get across to her bandmates that she wasn't happy with the way that their singer was treated, Akko wasn't sure necessarily how she was going to fix things, especially when Diana didn't come back. But she did know where Diana went, and when Ursula decided to go to sleep for a couple of hours she gave Akko the keys to her Subaru and let Akko go to where she wanted to go.

The sun was up in its late morning position when Akko made her way to Edora skatepark. She wasn't sure if Diana was going to be there, but she knew Diana wasn't one to break the law and go hard street skating over public obstacles. True to her belief she found Diana at the park, skating on the sides of the bowl in a crouch as she moved with great fluidity up and down the sides of the embankments. Akko couldn't help but catch her breath as she watched Diana skate the edges of the bowl; the way she moved with a mix of absolute speed and precision that was simply unbelievable to her. She was still dumbfounded that Diana could skate so well, almost at a competition level, than the way that she was skating right now. She was also surprised to know that Diana could and would blow off steam this way. In a way, this showed just how much Diana had changed over the past several months that they had known each other. She knew that when they first met Diana would never consider skateboarding and now it was her primary stress relief, at least in the Colorado foothills.

Akko disembarked the SUV and breathed in deep. She knew she had to have all the confidence she possibly could to do what she had to do. After centering and building herself up, she walked into the skateboard and went up to the edge of the bowl where Diana ended up. She looked down in it and saw Diana come to a stop before kicking her board up and going to climb the edge. "Need a hand?"

She watched Diana look up at her with a shocked look on her face but then quickly look away. "I can get up myself." She went to climb the lip of the bowl and Akko watched her struggle to get her footing. Akko walked up to the edge and bent down, lending her hand for Diana to pick up. She thought Diana would turn away from the help, but much to her surprise she took her hand and allowed Akko to hoist her out of the bowl. Diana then put her board down and kicked away from Akko.

"Come on, I just wanna talk," Akko said.

"About what," Diana said as she skated around. She did a quick kickflip before Akko could get the chance to say something again. "What, Akko?"

"I'm sorry for what happened back in the studio before," Akko said.

"No you aren't."

"Yes I am!" She jogged to catch up with Diana before the blonde got out of earshot. "I am sorry. I would never want to make fun of one of my bandmates."

"Isn't that all just part of what Sucy would say as 'being in a band'?" Diana shot back as she ollied over a rail.

"That's not true at all," Akko said. "What just happened back in the studio isn't part of being in a band at all, especially no band that I'm in. I don't know what that was back there, but that's not something I'd ever want in one of my bands."

"Then why did you let it happen?"

"I don't know. I let my guard down because normally you're so damn stoic and you don't show your emotions to anyone that I thought it wouldn't be a big deal."

Diana stopped skating around and picked up her board before going over to Akko and staring the Japanese girl down. This time Akko could feel the daggers radiating off of Diana's cerulean eyes. They stabbed all the way into her heart and out through her spine. She felt impaled to say the least. "You think I like failing in the vocal booth?" Diana hissed. "You think I like making an ass of myself in front of the people who I've spent so many waking moments over the past several months with and have been crammed into a tight space over a thousand miles away from home. You think I like this?"

"I don't think you like it at all," Akko replied nervously.

"I don't," Diana said. "I don't like it at all. I don't like failing in front of you."

Akko breathed in sharply at what Diana had just said. "In front of me?" she said. "Diana, you have nothing to be afraid of. I don't care if you mess up in front of me."

She could see Diana stop herself and her gaze loosen up, no longer piercing and now shocked, almost stunted in a way that Akko didn't expect. Akko knew that she had made a breakthrough. "Look, I didn't know that song would be so hard for you to sing. I didn't think that maybe you wouldn't want to put your voice behind something so ridiculous." She paused again and watched as Diana continued to relax. "But let's just make something clear. I don't care if you ever mess up in front of me, Diana. I'll never judge you if that were to ever happen. And I know you let others jabs just roll off you most of the time, but I'll make sure that no one else ever picks on you for messing up again. I mean it."

For a moment the two of them stood absolutely silently at one another, Diana with her back turned as they were still in a gentle Colorado breeze. Akko was left to wonder if she got through to Diana for a moment, but she watched as Diana turned around with a much more gentle gaze and looked at her in a contemplative manner. "Look, we can cut that track off the final tracklist for the album. I don't care, I'm not going to put you…"

"No, don't worry," Diana replied. "I'm going to try to sing it. I know it's all just my own fears and inhibitions getting in the way." She paused for a moment. "I'll get through it and sing the track. But I have one request."

"Whatcha got?" Akko asked.

She listened closely as Diana gave her one request and nodded her head. It was more than an easy one to make.

* * *

Ursula had awoken from her slumber and the rest of the members of A Seed of Sorrow spent the day relaxing around. But they were surprised when after a few hours Diana and Akko returned to the studio. "Well that took awhile," Amanda snickered. "What did you…"

Akko shot Amanda sharp glance and the redhead quickly stopped. "We're here to get down to business and record 'Jaws…'," Akko said firmly. "Diana and I are going to record the song together."

"Together?" Sucy said. "As in the two of you in the vocal booth at once?"

"That's right," Akko said. She looked back over at Diana and smiled. "It was my idea. I didn't like how I sounded anyway and it'll be nice to try something different for a change. I say lets do it."

"Can that even be done, Ursula?" Amanda asked.

"I don't see why not," the blue haired woman replied. "Let me go get the vocal mics set up and then we can get started."

Akko and Diana waited around for Ursula to finish setting up the microphones in the booth. The whole time Akko could feel the warmth between the two of them and looked away nervously. Diana was stirring up all kinds of feelings in her and as much as she didn't care if Diana messed up in front of her, she didn't want to mess up in front of Diana. She wanted to be perfect, perfect as she had ever been for the blonde. And this was not the time for her to mess up.

"Alright you two, you're up," Ursula said. Akko and Diana both nodded at each other and went into the booth, slipping on their headphones. "Ready?"

"Ready," Akko said.

"Ready," Diana seconded.

"'Jaws 3, People 0' lead vocals take one," Ursula said. And with that the track began.

 _Let's get the fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck out of here!_  
 _Let's get the fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck out of here!_  
 _Let's get the fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck out of here!_

At last they had finally made it through the most difficult part of the song. Not only that, but Diana sounded amazing in Akko's mind. Nodding at the blonde to continue, she watched Diana tilt her head from side to side before getting back into the song.

 _Don't test the captain's validity or his vulnerability._  
 _I've seen the necks unnaturally twisted, craned to stars in the sky._  
 _I've felt the chill upend the happiness of idiots in minutes;_  
 _they clutch their jewelry tight and say "How lucky am I!"_

 _And like a drunk spills boons on his varsity letter,_  
 ** _can we forgive a ship of fools for what they don't know better?_**  
 ** _I guess not._**  
 ** _"Man I hope he'll piss himself."_**  
 _Analyze this room._  
 ** _Grab that mop and broom and clean it up._**  
 ** _Man I hope he shits himself_**  
 _when the rest of the shipwrecked long drowned in their graves_  
 _make a claim on the souls of the heartless fakes._  
 ** _"Please help, my party flew away with the ocean mist._**  
 ** _I narrowly escaped to the roof."_**  
 _ **But when the Night Rangers found me** (dead, but for my liver)_  
 _ **and said "Don't tell me you love me", abhorrent and deliberate.**  
How we ruined the day's remains._  
 ** _Sinful_!**

 _A hero's humility is a foolish amenity._  
 ** _Cups of coffee speed the heartbeats of the soonest to die._**  
 _I saw the first blood in the water, someone's mother or daughter._  
 ** _I wait for troutman; Give me clearance for this chopper to fly._**

 _Cause they were jumping off the backs of only sons,_  
 _ **offering up light snacks of younger ones.**  
"Well, how fast could our legs run?"_

 _Let's get the fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck out of here!_  
 _The weak are screaming for the captain but the captain ain't here._  
 _How we ruined the day's remains._  
( **Sinful!** )  
 _The bodies splashed like paint._  
 ** _To see so many scattered cockroaches running from the light._**

After the relentless barrage of chaotic vocals and some quick scales up the neck of her bass from Sucy, Akko and Amanda broke into dueling lead sections. Akko watched as Diana bobbed her head to the music and unlike before was actually smiling. Akko couldn't help but smile as well. She knew she had settled Diana into the song. Her goal was accomplished.

 _Oh, when I saw them floating out to the river,_  
 **(woah)**  
 _the cold inside my stomach was a hunger to me._  
 **(woah)**  
 _And if the devil makes a mess of all the raw meat,_  
 _ **Let him be.**_

 _Oh how my captain sailed it straight up the middle,_  
 **(woah)**  
 _but the crooked lines are quicker when you're snorting them in._  
 **(woah)**  
 _Because if the devil's at your door you leave it open._  
 _Let him in._

The song ended with a quick guitar solo and another dueling lead from Akko and Amanda. After the two singers both sighed, they looked toward the vocal booth. Ursula quickly called them back inside the studio. Leaning over the mixing console and Ursula's shoulder, both Akko and Diana listened to how the the take had come out.

"What do you think, Ursula-Sensei?" Akko said.

"I think it sounds good," Diana said. "I mean it's up to you Ursula."

"It's perfect," Ursula said quickly. "It's absolutely perfect."

"What?!" Akko exclaimed. She saw Diana wince because she had been so loud and lowered her volume while blushing. "You mean that."

"I mean it," Ursula said. "Unless you two want to do it all again, you don't have to. That take was perfect. It's the one we're going to use for the song."

Diana and Akko both looked over at each other and smiled wide. Akko couldn't help but put her hand out for a low five and she was surprised when Diana returned the gesture. But before Diana could let go Akko interlocked their fingers and pulled the blonde in tight for a hug. She could feel the warmth returning into her body again and kept Diana close. She didn't want the sensation to end.


End file.
